From one Snake to Another
by Abel Sephaos
Summary: Part one of the Yggdrasil no Kami series. When dealing with Snakes, beware least you find yourself stuck in a bind. In which Harry Potter learns the true meaning of treachery and carves his own path in retaliation. England beware, a new Sage walks among you.
1. Enter the White Snake

_From one Snake to another_

_Chapter 1, Enter the White Snake_

_Just another attempt at sating my muse_

_A Harry Potter/Naruto mash up_

_I do not own anything related to either the Harry Potter or the Naruto franchises_

_AN: This is just something that popped into my head. I'm hoping that SOMEONE at least enjoys this._

_=+FoStA+=_

Sasuke moved through the tree tops with purpose, his ebony eyes staring forward in a cold focus. He couldn't afford to waste any time, having left his team behind at the nearest town whose name was inconsequential.

Today was the day his brother would die. Today was the day he would have his vengeance. The cursed seal of heaven pulsed slightly under his skin, reminding the youth of the man whose clutches he had ruthlessly ripped himself from.

Team Hebi had been the result of him freeing himself of his debt to Orochimaru's, leaving the man's once expansive operations in ruins. Otogakure was surely being dismantled by Kabuto by now, leaving Sasuke to freely recruit what remained of the Hebi Sennins elite forces and prisoners.

Karin, Juugo, Suigetsu and himself made up the group, each having sworn to help Sasuke in his endeavors. That was enough to bring a small smile to Sasuke's normally stoic visage. The three were slowly growing on him, but he didn't dare trust or let them too close to him. Not until he killed his Brother and avenged his once powerful clan.

The sound of a sharp projectile splitting through the air towards him caused him to leap down from the tree tops, flinging a volley of senbon charged with Raiton Chakra towards where the Kunai came from.

The sound of a dull impact implicated Kawarimi reached Sasuke's ears milliseconds before he rolled to his left, large clumps of earth slamming into his previous position.

The sound of screeching birds filled the air, the stench of Ozone stung Sasuke's eyes and nose slightly.

"Come out, Kakashi," The ebony haired teen spat, "You won't be able to kill me with that technique any longer." His own Chidori sprung to life around his left arm, his right holding his Chokuto slightly out of its sheath.

Kakashi walked calmly from behind a tree fifteen feet from in front of Sasuke, his Sharingan already uncovered and pulsating with power. Sasuke could see from the way his chakra weaved in his left eye that nothing good would come of this confrontation.

'Why has his Sharingan started… producing its own Chakra?' Sasuke asked himself, watching as a willowhisp like energy began to permeate Kakashi's body.

"I've come to bring you back, Sasuke. We cannot allow you to kill Itachi under Hokage-sama's orders."

Sasuke was taken aback, his cold expression splitting into one of confusion. "What makes you think I'm going to listen to your damned Hokage's word?" He slowly began to weave his Chakra into a genjutsu he copied from Itachi in one of their earlier confrontations.

Kakashi let loose an audible sigh, his Raikiri only growing stronger. "Sasuke, Itachi was ORDERED to kill your clan by the three elders behind the Sandaime's back," Kakashi began, sorrow filling his voice at what he was about to tell Sasuke, "The Uchiha were planning a coup, Sasuke, Itachi is loyal to the leaf more so than I can ever say I am."

Sasukes world reeled at the revelation, Sorrow and Anger racing through him like never before. His world began to crumble as he tried to comprehend what Kakashi said to him.

A warm liquid dripped from his face as his eyes began to burn, his Chidori slowly fading as he clutched his face with his right hand. "You... You're lying. MY FAMILY WOULD NEVER-"

He stopped yelling as his eyes began to stop burning. He slowly opened his crimson orbs and stared at Kakashi with new-found clarity. 'Mangekyou…'

Kakashi watched on as Sasuke clutched his head, but flinched when the younger man opened his eyes again. "Damn it! Sasuke, listen to me!"

Black flames rushed towards Kakashi, having sprung forth from Sasukes right eye, now in the shape of an atomic star. Sasuke watched as Kakashi weaved the whispy black chakra into something… more than complex.

Kamui. Sasuke then knew the power that Kakashi wielded, the power that Kakashi stole. His own eyes immediately began to pump that whispy chakra forth from his own left eye, pushing his body and his body alone into his own sub-dimension. What he didn't know is that his own Kamui would un-anchor Orochimaru's cursed seal from his body, leaving a pulsating white mass in his previous spot.

The two space-time techniques clashed in a torrent of black energy with a foreign, almost alien origin. The mass of Orochimaru's soul and Chakra was sucked into the technique, as well as the black flames that threatened to consume the clearing the two were now battling it out in. Sasuke fazed back into existence with a slight stinging sensation in his left eye, blood leaking from his tear ducts with reckless abandon.

The Chakra induced rift slowly began to close, having been stained purple and grey by the writhing spirit hidden in the cursed seal, not that Sasuke and Kakashi knew that. Little did they know that the conflict they had changed the very course of history in another dimension, far removed from their own.

=+FoStA+=

Harry Potter was a child of seven years old and an almost untold amount of anguish. He was dealt a foul hand at just three months of age, his birth parents having been ripped from him by a man long tainted by darkness. Voldemort may have killed his parents in cold blood, but it was his mother's love that saved his life from the Dark Lords killing curse.

Since a young age, he has been treated like a slave by his so called 'relatives'. When he would ask questions, they would lock him under the stairs for days at a time. If he ever spoke out against any 'chores' they gave him, they would lock him under the stairs for days.

Food was a scarcity for the boy despite having to cook breakfast and dinner for the creatures masquerading as humans. They didn't always beat him; it just started a year ago abruptly. The starving was always something he hated, weakness wracking his very bones.

One day he asked the wrong question, having built up his courage over the course of his short life."What happened to my real parents?"

This beating was the most vicious the boy had ever experienced. His arms most likely would never be the same, having been broke at an odd angle in more than one place.

His eyes were swollen shut, and his ears rang and muted Vernon Dursleys' raging voice. Harry only saw a fist before the man began bellowing.

His limp body, barely clinging to consciousness was picked up carelessly by the walrus of a man and dragged to his company car. "You just couldn't keep your freak mouth shut, could you boy?" The man raged, throwing the limp child into the trunk of the car.

Harry stared bleakly into the darkness that fell over him, his mind barely registering what was happening to him. His wounds began to immediately hiss shut as they always did, his arm popping painfully back into place.

This was a common occurrence to the child, whose life was shrouded in pure misery. He could remember the night his parents died, or at least he could remember the screaming. He could remember the treatment he always dealt with. Dudley and his crooked crew would gang up on him during recess, breaking a different bone in every conflict they started.

By the time recess was over the wounds would have healed themselves and leave him in as good of shape as he could be in. It was always just enough to not be able to implicate his treatment to the school nurse or teachers.

Harry's foul cousin knew that he could heal faster than normal and took advantage of this on a daily basis, venting his frustration on the defenseless boy.

He wasn't quite sure where his uncle was taking him, but anywhere was better than that accursed house.

Time moved on as the car rumbled across the highway, however much Harry wasn't sure. It was almost silent if not for the dull roar of the highway, giving the child time to recover from his most recent encounters with his uncles' meaty fists.

Vernon Dursley was a very vindictive man, having thought long and hard on how he would rid himself of Harry.

He was not always a raging psychopath, but for the past year he would have constant nightmares of his so called nephew killing him in hundreds of different ways.

'The boy things he can torment me, huh?!' the man thought to himself one morning, having finally grown tired of waking up in a cold sweat.

For the past month the man had looked far and wide for the area to ditch the child, looking for an area furthest from Little Whinning without going too far out of his way.

The man finally found the perfect area to be rid of the cause of his torture while driving to Grunnings, having had to take an alternate path to work because of a large car accident.

One wrong turn on his route and Vernon found himself in the very location he knew the freak would feel "At Home".

West Park Mental Hospital was spitefully nicknamed "The Asylum" by the few folks who knew of it. The institution was abandoned just fifteen years prior and was far removed from town due to a 'Mass Ritual Suicide' that took place on Halloween night, 1945.

The large West Park area was at one point a thriving organization and spanned out enough to contain boiler houses and plant houses for each of the four main buildings. A Chapel rested in the middle of the four expansive buildings and was thoroughly decorated in the visage of Christ.

A water tower rested twenty feet to the right of the chapel, large enough to supply water to hundreds of people for months.

A large ballroom was built into the North Hospital Block during the thirties right after the conclusion of World War One due to the influx of veterans and widows in the wake of the massive conflict.

At one point the area was beautiful beyond words, but the years have not been kind to the sprawling health center.

There was only one road leading to the expansive complex with extremely dense woodlands surrounding both the asylum and dirt road.

The walrus in human flesh had barely gotten out of the place before almost going into cardiac arrest caused by fright.

Something whispered in Vernon's ear during his retreat from the haunted grounds, something that chilled the man to the bones, 'bring the boy here… bring the boy here.'

They finally came to a halt, but the car never stopped running. Harry could hear his uncle getting out of his car, coming around to the trunk while angrily murmuring under his breath.

"Come on, Freak, get out of my car!" The man roared, opening the trunk and hefting the innocent child from the vehicle.

"You are not coming back with me boy, you're on your own. Petunia and I have put up with you freaks for long enough!" The demented man screamed, waving his hands in the air like a lunatic.

"We brought you in and gave you a roof over your head!" Harry stared on in horror as the man continued to rant and rave, the man was gripped in an unnatural anger that made the child's heart pound in his ears.

The damage to his body was not as severe as it could have been, but he knew that he couldn't take much more and expect to survive.

His lungs burned from the ribs that pierced the frail organ, not quite healed from the massive beating he took.

"You will no longer taint my good family with your devilry, pray that this is the last time we cross paths! Good riddance!" The obese man yelled, clamoring back into his small vehicle with slight difficulty.

Harry watched through blurry eyes as the man put his car into reverse and sped backwards through the alley.

Relief gripped the innocent child in a vice grip as his tormentor fled away, but a sorrow deeper than anything he's ever felt fell over him soon after.

'This is it, huh?' Harry asked himself, the concussive blows of his uncle and aunt still fogging his mind. 'I need to find somewhere to rest.'

The area around him was still well lit by the afternoon sun, though the shade cast by the buildings surrounding him was more than welcome to the youth.

His eyes were sensitive to the light due to years of being locked into the dark cupboard under the stairs. He began to take stock of his injuries slowly, not wanting to jar his wounds or any still in the healing process.

Harry began to limp towards the closest of the buildings around him that was vaguely designed like a chapel.

Stained glass windows of every color Harry could think of decorated the entrance area of the building, though he barely registered what he was looking at as he shuffled through the building.

His glasses had been knocked off on the first blow, maybe the second. His vision has completely deteriorated due to being forced to wear the bargain bin items.

When Harry was younger, his vision had been perfect, more so than average. The optometrist that had visited the lads' primary school during the annual check-up had given the lad a perfect bill while his cousin Dudley was recommended to get prescription lenses immediately.

Needless to say, there was no love lost now that Vernon has abandoned him. The child couldn't bring himself to fear his situation, for whatever odd reason he could think of.

Freedom, first and foremost, was sweet. While burning pain echoed through his body with every heavy step he took, he was thanking whatever higher power existed for finally being free of the tyrannical reign of his flesh and blood relatives.

A sigh broke through the boys lips, his mind carefully wiped blank from the trauma he continuously suffered from his only surviving family.

'If I never see them again it will be too soon.' The neglected child thought forlornly, slowly shifting his small frame into the main lobby of the holy ground.

Harry's eyes were too blurry to make out any distinct details of the place, only using vague shapes and afternoon sunlight filtering through the multi-colored glass to guide his way.

He finally reached a small incline and almost fell forward if not for him flailing wildly and gripping the nearest object to him.

The wounded boy slowly lowered himself down into a sitting position after finding and oddly cushioned chair by feeling his way around. Gently he began to go over his wounds again, feeling out where the most critical damage lingered.

Just before he passed out from exhaustion, he heard a strange ripping sound, unlike anything he had ever heard before in his short life. Little did he know that when he awoke, he would be no longer exist as just an abandoned child who clung to life with feverish delirium derived from a mothers love.

=+FoStA+=

Blood magic is something that very few witches or wizards ever delved into, not only due to the extremely dark alignment of it, but due to its complexity.

Lily Evans was a witch bright well beyond her years. Lily is what most bigoted ancient houses called a 'mudblood', or a muggleborn witch with no distinctive bloodline to support her as far as she knew.

She was a curious child who discovered her magic at a very young with her childhood friend Severus. Lily's entrance into the magic world was like a rising star, having torn through the Hogwarts curriculum at record breaking rates, only falling just shy of Albus Dumbledores' own extraordinary flight to fame.

Lily was no fool by any means of the word, catching wind of the twinkling eyed man's machinations to bring her and James Potter together in 'holy matrimony'. She confided deeply within Severus, who in turn had urged her to research further into the dark arts, if only to protect her from the manipulative headmaster.

Months into her sixth year at Hogwarts, she was slowly but surely fed love potions brewed by Professor Slughorn at the behest of Dumbledore.

After consuming enough, she was susceptible to the influence of the nefarious Gryffindor who quickly severed her and the Slytherin students' friendship.

The years passed in a haze for the young lady, barely scraping by her NEWTS thanks to the foreign substance constantly being fed to her through the meals she ate.

It was only during a week of constant ambushes at the hands of Voldemort's death eaters bombarding hers and James safe house that her husband ran out of love potions.

Lily noticed immediately that something was wrong when her body began to show signs of potion addiction when she didn't take ANY potions regularly.

Lily realized with growing fear that she was being manipulated and began to take small bezoars with every meal to negate its effects though it was too late to stop her from being married into the Potter family with no way out save death.

After the assault finally ended due to Auror forces finally breaking through the front lines, the redhead made an appointment with the 'head' of the department of mysteries so that she might get a job and stay away from the man she was forced to marry.

As an Unspeakable, she had access to magics either very restricted or outright forbidden outside of ministry usage. Her husband, James Potter, was unaware of the darkness his wife delved into, having gotten deeply involved in the first war against the Dark Lord Voldemort along with the rest of the Order of the Phoenix.

The organization was headed by the so called Light Lord Dumbledore, the very man who held many public offices in the palm of his hands. The two would be couple never spent too much time together after Lily found out she was pregnant with his child, the woman having distanced herself from him by delving head first into her work.

The night that Tom Riddle Jr. attacked her home in Godricks Hollow, Lily had prepared a long thought lost ritual to tie her very blood and soul to Harry using the power drawn from Samhain.

Her magics would be bound to the mortal realm for as long as Harry even had a shred of life left in him, protecting him from the horrors sure to become of him.

She had scryed years into the future and sent astral projections of herself to key locations, the spells having been stuck in a stasis of sorts until certain events came to pass.

Voldemort chose the wrong night to attack the family, and even though he had killed Harry's parents, he failed to kill the child.

The lightning bolt scar that lay upon Harry's brow was tainted with the very dark arts that Lily's blood magics protected him from, a piece of Voldemort's soul itself.

=+FoStA+=

Reality began to churn slowly as the fabrics of space and time unraveled inside of the Chapel, right on top of the spot that the boy-who-lived recently passed out upon to heal from his recent beating and abandonment at the hands of his last living relatives.

Power beyond the greatest minds of this world was what powered the technique, breaking the laws that even the greatest of wizards could not.

At that very moment in time, two dimensions far, far removed from each other came into contact with one another.

Ambient magic from the massive ritual that was sure to have taken place in those hallowed grounds was pulled into the chaotic rift, adding power and unpredictability to the mix thanks to the very nature of magic.

The spirit and what once was a man fallen from grace twisted and churned in the breach in reality, raw knowledge and memories left over from the cursed seal of heaven, as well as the pale purple tinted sage chakra that allowed for the second stage of the cursed seal.

DNA that was being siphoned off of Sasuke was present in the mix; the Uchiha Chakra needed to sustain any of their clan abilities present in the strange concoction being fueled by all-encompassing power.

The rift formed by Kamui opened up right on top of Harry's body, pulling the boy into the writhing mass of grey and purple that once made up the snake sannin. Time and space began to pull the boy apart, make him less than whole. If not for the powerful protective magic behind his mother's love, Harry would not have survived this freak encounter with an attack from far beyond his realm.

As his body and soul began to reach critical condition, the ritual lily began to pump its accumulated magic into the destabilized particles and writhing flesh, bone and blood.

Lily's blood runes began to appear in the air around the Chakra and Magic fused rip in reality, forcing the mass to start to coagulate into a vaguely human shape.

Minutes ticked by as the crimson colored runes hung suspended in the air, glowing ominously in the mostly shut shipping container.

DNA from the two bodies began to twist into one, forming more and more detail upon the childish form of magic, blood and natures very own chakra.

The powerful runes began to push the spirit of Harry back into the now whole body; Voldemort's scar still lingering above his right brow began to spew black smoke from the wounded flesh.

A terrible scream pierced the din caused by reality being ripped open, so terrible it was sure to stop a normal man's heart if they were unfortunate enough to be present.

Kamui continued to spin inside of boy's body, the runes of his mother and her sacrifice forcing the technique to seal itself away in the boys left eye.

A small amount of DNA that the seal siphoned off of Sasuke allowed the blood magic present years after Lily died to build an incomplete Sharingan based on Orochimaru's understanding of the bloodline trait.

The dark flames of Amaterasu poured out of the void as it was sucked into Harry's body, burning away small sections of the chapel the young tormented boy holed himself in.

The black inferno soon became calm and sat around the boy in a small circle; the runes that forced Kamui into his left eye began to do the same for the flames in the boys right.

A terrible scream tore through Harry's throat as the lightning bolt shaped scar started sizzling and sparking, the soul fragment of Voldemort's become loose by the powerful Kamui and absorbed into the young child much like the Chakra and Soul of Orochimaru's. While the Horcrux had been merged forcefully to the boys soul, much like Orochimaru's soul fragment, the nature of the Horcrux remained as it continued to anchor Voldemort's soul to earth.

The runes along his body continued to glow a baleful shade of red for hours as Harry's body and mind began to filter the two extra sets of memories and skills left behind by the now shattered soul fragments that drifted through his being.

Lily's Blood Magick began to stabilize the boy-who-lived, leaving the knowledge in young Harry's possession but as she attempted to pull the souls of the two from the vessel her son was to reside in, she failed. The two soul fragments drifted back into the young boy before hiding themselves away deep in the corners where the soul resided.

The knowledge of Chakra theory and anything related to Shinobi was imprinted deep into the mind of the young child, the blood runes activating the already present coils needed to channel the foreign energy.

Three hundred and sixty one Chakra points sprang to life within him, channeling the snake sannins energy and vitalizing the very cells that made up Harry Potters body.

Knowledge and memories, each dark in their own right implanted themselves onto Harry's soul, a centuries worth of bloodshed collectively now at his beck and call.

Wandless magic, apparition, rituals both dark and light lingered in his mind, just beneath the surface. Lily had attempted to leave only Harry, but the process took its toll on the young boy, far too much of one for him to recover from. It could have been the memories of the two dark snake lovers, it could have been his own mistreatment at the hands of the Dursleys, but somewhere during the Ritual that saved young Harry's life... he snapped.

When Harry awoke next, he was screaming. For what seemed like an hour he screamed, for the darkness he continued to see in his memories, or what he could assume were his at least, was tormenting him. He saw himself being chastised by a brown haired man with crow's feet forming around his eyes.

He remembered grieving for parents he knows he didn't have. He remembered a man named Jiraiya and how he was always getting himself in to trouble, even though Harry himself did not know anyone named Jiraiya.

He saw himself practicing how to project killing intent with team mates he didn't have. He heard himself be called Orochimaru and knew that they were talking to him.

He saw two wars and hundreds of skirmishes he never took part in, death at his hands, even if they weren't HIS hands. Harry could remember snakes who could speak his own tongue, teaching him in a desolate cave to summon forth Nature's own energy.

Fuuinjutsu theory was present in his mind, from basic sealing scrolls to the horrible theory behind the cursed seals. Juuinjutsu was something Harry slowly told himself he would very soon get to working on, just as soon as he finished what he started seven years prior.

He saw himself sitting in an orphanage, holding his knees to his face while the room around him burned. He saw an old man with twinkling blue eyes visit him; tell him that Magic was real. Of course he wasn't crazy, he couldn't possibly be crazy when he proved time and time again he was able to do things no mere mortal was capable of doing!

He saw himself attend a school called 'Hogwarts' for seven years, and all of the horribly wondrous things in between. He remembered splitting his soul and placing it into a diary, a cup, a ring, a necklace, he could remember everything.

Faces of loyal followers, of traitors and those without magic, the faces of the tortured, the beaten, all of the death at the hands of Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. flashed through his mind. Rituals both light and dark, magics of everything in between engraved themselves into his mindscape, which was still a maelstrom that was tearing the boys mind apart.

The knowledge of Occlumency came to Harry's mind in a moment of weakness, causing the boy to faintly smile as he sat down in a meditative position.

Curiosity and sadness had conquered the snake sannins world early, his parents having died in the first shinobi war to a brutal Iwa assault squad. They died miles from the war front in a town that was no longer standing. His pursuit of immortality was ill begotten, having derived from his fear of human weakness. Orochimaru went from a weak being to the embodiment of the shinobi code during the second Great War, having barely survived the fight with Hanzo along with his team mates. Orochimaru walked the path of shadows just weeks after the conflict in Amegakure and joined Danzo's Ne organization after retiring from the regular ANBU forces. His spiral into madness was due to constant manipulations of the old warhawk, whose inhumane training broke what was left of the man's spirit. Orochimaru later left the root organization for a stint in the criminal organization 'Akatsuki', using them as cover to pursue further into the depths of human experimentation and bloodline limits.

Anger and misery had dominated the dark lords' life from a very young age, being a half-blooded bastard child of a squib and a muggle man under the sway of a love potion. He was placed in an orphanage just months after being born, his mother falling into madness after her husband left her upon his discovery of her treacherous potions. Tom was ridiculed by his peers daily as a child, the women who ran the orphanage doing nothing to stop them. Day after day, he was pushed, punched, kicked, spat upon by the heathen children. It was his tenth birthday when the magic coursing through his veins kicked in, transfiguring one of the matrons of the orphanage into a green viper in a fit of rage. That was the day he learned he was a parseltongue.

Dumbledore had shown his face not too long after that, trying to manipulate the young boy towards his own 'greater good'. Tom Riddle went on to become one of the biggest, but greatest, monsters this world has ever seen, only outstripped by the pure power that Grindlewald used to embolden Nazi Germany in the forties. The Slytherin had manipulated the young and old pureblooded families, subjugating them into his personal army.

Hatred and rage were what made up Harry's world, the abuse he suffered at the hands of his remaining family too much for him to bear. Late at night when he would cry himself to sleep, the boy would swear he could hear a woman singing to him, whispering sweet nothings in his ear while he bore his heart. Early in the mornings, even when he was at his weakest could he feel a presence around him unlike anything he could describe. The sacrifice his mother made when he was only three months old saved him from the killing curse, and it continued to save him even till now. His capacity for cruelty was unsurpassed by children and adults alike, though he had no idea how to truly express himself, nor act on his darker urges such as revenge and minor torture. He held his cards close to his chest when dealing with the Dursley family, never giving them the vaguest hint at his thoughts.

Harry refused to let the animals masquerading as family break him instead of becoming the mindless slave they thought he was. Day after day was a war in its own as his Magical Core spent most of its contents on stopping the boy from passing away due to malnourishment. His mother's sacrificial bond kept the boy whole and mostly sane, no matter what the miserable muggles forced him to do. Harry continued to drift in the void as the three sets of memories continued to meld together.

Just as the black and red mass was about to cast Harry out of his body, a bright light froze the three fighting wraiths in place. A woman's voice began to chant in a language the Potter boy had never heard before, leaving him filled with a sense of numbness. The woman's presence in his mind startled him, her face staring back at him in the darkened void that made up his soulscape. No words were spoken, but Harry knew instinctively who she was. He tried to stretch his arms to reach out to the fiery haired woman only for her to shake her head at him sadly.

'No, Harry. It is not yet time for us to reunite. This is going to be the last time I will see you until we get to meet at the crossroads… I love you, son, with all of my heart. I've done my best to contain this strange force into your body. There is so much you need to know, my child, so much I have to tell you. When you awake, you will be on your own, my son.'

Tears glistened in Lily's eyes as she stared forlornly at her son. She had watched his treatment at the hands of her sister and her husband throughout the years, having been disgusted by both Dumbledore and her so called 'sister' for their slights against her and her blood. Her times in the Department of Mysteries had not prepared her for the horrors that were lying in wait of her, but the ritual she performed was the pinnacle of Blood Magics, stronger than any other protective rite known to the world. Harry would be well prepared for the arduous road ahead of him, that much she was certain of. She reached out and hugged the child tight to her chest as her body began to glow a liquid-like silver color.

'I'm going to use the last of my magic left to completely bind the memories and abilities of the outsiders into you, Harry, I hope you use the knowledge they leave well, I want to see Dumbledore burn at your feet! This final bit of me should be strong enough to filter the darkness if only a little… Goodbye, my little snake…'

A storm of crimson, purple and green began to blend together before at last a golden light replaced the three. Soon the Potter scion fell from the golden sphere, only looking vaguely like he did before he forcefully blended with the two fragments.

The phantom that stood watch over the boy as he transcended from what he was before vanished into hundreds of orbs of light which began to swirl and combine with his soulscape, filling in the cracks and tears that gave the ebon haired child a feeling of dread. A great flash blinded Harry temporarily before dying down abruptly. Runes hung in the air around his ghostly visage, shooting past him into the darkness that consumed him.

The gaps in his spirit filled in finally, leaving behind an abyss that seemed to go on forever. The great void that once seemed so frightful beckoned the youth forward, deeper and deeper into the forcefully expanded space at the seat of his soul.

A snake with three heads hissed from the base of a massive tree that sprouted from the darkness. The tree seemed to be floating in the nothingness around him, its roots stretching further down into the darkness than was visible. Golden and crimson runic and shinobi sealing script surrounded the Yggdrasil like tree and the Behemoth of a snake that was easily ten times as large as Manda.

Harry stared down at the massive snake, taking its details into consideration as he continued his decent into darkness. Pale white scales covered it from snout to tail, easily stretching on for hundreds of feet.

The furthest left head had beautiful golden eyes rimmed by a royal purple hue. Upon its head rested eight gnarled horns, each twisting into the others to form a barbed crown. Due to the look in its eyes, Harry knew that this was the most intelligent of the three snakes. An aura of wisdom surrounded the majestic snake, leaving Harry with a thirst for knowledge so deeply rooted into his very being. The golden eyed snake stared up at the boy with terrible clarity before it tore its eyes away from Harry's, hissing softly as it did so.

The middle head had green eyes the shade of his mothers with the color of gold staining its upper eye lids. Two antlers stretched from its crown much like a deer's which confused the young man deeply. Of the three snakes, this one was the most familiar to the boy, as if he had known this being since the beginning of his existence. Courage radiated from the crest of this serpent in waves, pouring over Harry and refreshing his weary soul.

Of the three heads of the snake, the furthest most right was the most intimidating with crimson eyes surrounded with dark black. Spines and thorns spread from the snakes crown down to where the three heads connected into one body, whereas the other two only had the horns upon their crown. Fangs dripping a venomous concoction hung from the snakes mouth precariously, ready to strike and take the young man at any given moment. Pure unadulterated power leaked from the snake in a horrible miasma, threatening to suffocate the boy and snuff out his essence. Harry backed away from the creature with trepidation, not wanting to be in any sort of proximity of the being, but at the same time understanding of its anger.

Harry's descent was finally slowed to a halt right at the base of the seemingly floating tree and stared up at the massive behemoth before him. The three heads swayed back and forth as they stared at the young man, each with a different expression written on its face.

The left most serpent was the most curious of the three, lowering its gigantic head until its snout was just feet from the boy. Its tongue quickly shot from its mouth and tasted the air around before taking its position next to the others again. The middle snake stared at the boy with a strange thousand yard gaze while the right most reptile stared at the boy with baleful carmine eyes. The three snakes began to hiss in unison, startling the boy from his silent reverie. Harry stared in shock as his mind began to translate what the snake was 'saying', so to speak.

Before the boy-who-lived could comprehend what the massive being said completely, his Spiritual representation began to fade. In the final moments before he was completely ejected from the base of his soul, he heard three voices in one say the same thing. 'Unity.'

=+FoStA+=

When the young boy opened his eyes again, he stared up at the ceiling of the holy building with startling clarity. The main part of the building he found himself in was covered in darkness, a testament to how much time had passed since the rift swallowed him up. Slowly he rose, stretching his muscles as he did so. He continued to stare into space for a moment, trying to come to terms with what had happened to him.

Harry smiled despite the circumstances, but it was not a happy smile. Bitterness began to boil beneath his calm visage, threatening to burst through the seams that connected his spirit to his vessel. With an absurd vigor the boy lowered himself into a meditative position to clear away the anger present in his thoughts. The first order of business the young man could think of was to summon the spirit of his pseudo-father, Voldemort, from wherever the wraith currently resided and make sure his, their, plans for conquering the wizarding world were still in place.

The Dark Mark flared to life on his right forearm before Harry channeled his magic into said mark with new found vigor. After making sure that the connection between him and the seven other soul fragments were still firmly in place, Harry bit harshly into his right thumb before letting multiple drops of blood fall to the floor.

Orochimaru, Harry quickly realized, was a genius unprecedented within the Shinobi world, whose knowledge compared to Voldemort's own when it came to the darker aspects of their respective studies. Blood clones, for instance, was a creation of Orochimaru's that was perfect for this occasion.

Fifteen hand seals later and Harry slammed his hands into the puddle of blood while using his new found chakra control to recreate the body of Tom Marvolo Riddle Junior from memory. The small puddle of blood began to churn and grow as the Chakra being poured into the technique began to construct the former body of the Horcrux now intermingled with Harry and Orochimaru's soul, causing the seven year old turned Dark Lord/Sannin to chuckle with great mirth.

With a wave of his hand, Harry conjured a full body mirror using Voldemort's most basic wandless magic. The Boy that stared back at him was NOT the boy he was when he woke this morning, but due to what he just went through that was unsurprising to him.

His body stood at 5'1" with skin paler than he had ever seen on a living being before. Ebony locks drifted to his mid back, glistening in the light of the moon. Green eyes with golden flecks stared back at him with slitted pupils like a snakes, framed by the purple tint indicating the natural chakra that has permanently seated itself within his forcefully developed chakra coils. The lightning bolt scar that always seemed to tingle was still there, but for the first time in seven years, it didn't bother him in the least. No prickling sensation bothered him, no whispering, just silence.

It was only after waiting thirty minutes and many wandless spells later that the room grew colder than usually natural. Harry grinned as he watched the spirit of Voldemort float through the open window to the side of the chapel before the wraith came to a halt before him.

_**'So the call was not a figment of my imagination at all, was it?' **_Voldemort hissed with a pleased tone in his snake like voice. The wraith was extremely pleased with what he was seeing, something that he long thought impossible. Standing before him was a living Horcrux, but more specifically, _his Horcrux._

With but a thought, the wraith that is Voldemort established a link with Harry, allowing him to view his memories, including those of Orochimaru's. While Voldemort was scanning his mind for what Harry considered his most important memories, the boy thought about the aspect of himself that came from Orochimaru.

Having well over one hundred and twenty years of knowledge trapped within the mind of a seven year old body was annoying, to say the least. The fact that Harry had existed longer as two very different beings more so than existing as Harry Potter was discerning, but the boy drew strength from the fact that he didn't lose his mind and the memories were, in fact, very real.

Voldemort quickly cut the connection from the young boys mind and stared at him with rapt attention. _**"This situation was not planned for, but this will work in my, our, favor easily."**_ Voldemort began quietly, barely contained joy at having a living copy of himself trapped within the body of Harry Potter present in his voice. _**"The memories of this... Orochimaru will serve us very well indeed."**_

Harry scoffed before beckoning to the body currently resting beneath the covers on the wonderfully crafted bed that was conjured by the young reincarnated Shinobi.

"This is a body crafted by myself to match that of which you lost seven years prior. It lacks the soul to give you a fight, so possessing the empty vessel should prove to be easy and permanent." Harry stated with a completely flat voice, staring at his former self with barely contained emotions.

Tom was a psychopath only capable of caring for himself, that still held true even if Harry only was a fragment of Tom. The thoughts of Harry and Orochimaru mattered little when it came to Tom and his possessiveness of his soul.

'Today can't get any worse.' Was the only thought that continued to echo in Albus Dumbledores' mind. There was an emergency session with the Wizengamot earlier that day that lasted longer than any other in the past year. A few recent graduates from Hogwarts had been out and about in Diagon Alley when a massive fight broke out between two families that had an outstanding blood feud and caught the unsuspecting victims in the crossfire.

The families of all of the graduates involved immediately clamored to the Ministry atrium and demanded a session to try the instigators to their fullest ability. Dumbledore was required to be at any and every meeting that had more than one-third of its members in attendance, so he was not there when Ms. Figg had begun screaming for him in his floo.

Despite ordering the woman to never tell anyone but him about young Harry, she immediately floo called the head of the DLME, Amelia Bones, to tell her of the happenings. Her kneezles began to hiss and sputter as they disappeared to goodness knows where, something the woman had never seen in her long life. Through the window she spied Vernon drag Harry from privet drive number four and shove the boy into his trunk. Three hours later and the man returned a sweaty mess, screaming for his family to get into his car. They all left soon after with just the clothes on their back and have yet to return home.

The many trinkets that monitored the condition of the wards placed around privet drive four indicated that none of the magic used to protect and hide the boy existed any longer. Dumbledore could only stare in horror when he finally returned to his office, immediately coming to the only conclusion he could. Harry must have been murdered by his uncle; there was no way the blood magics used on Harry would dissipate any other way as far as the old man knew. Auror's had already begun to scour the area under strong disillusionment charms, not wanting to scare the muggle population and need to send in the obliviators.

The strongest reading of magic in the house was the cupboard under the stairs where, to the outrage of all Ministry officials present, shone a grim light on the situation Harry had suffered at the hands of his family. Blood and other bodily fluids stained the area under the stairs, the blood containing a massive amount of magical presence in it. Already the news had reached the magical population hidden deep within the bowls of London and all abroad.

Dumbledore was left grasping for straws as his public image plummeted to an all-time low due to his hand in placing Harry among the muggles. Purebloods were calling for his head while the rest were bellowing for his blood. If not for the many favors owed to him he would be without any position in the government or Hogwarts.

The Tyrant of the light was nursing a tall glass of Fire Whiskey when the sound of his gargoyle being melted to slag brought him from his drunken revere. Minerva McGonagall stormed into his office before he could so much as draw his wand to put up a privacy charm and began to tear into him. "YOU SWORE, ALBUS!" The enraged woman screamed, holding the tip of her wand just an inch from his right eye. "You swore Harry would be alright with those… those terrible MONSTERS!" Minerva spat with venom dripping from her voice.

Dumbledore shrank back slightly to cover the action of him drawing the primordial wand in his possession. He prepared himself for any sudden attack, though he doubted his long-time friend and comrade would attack him. He was wrong. A silent shield casting later and he was holding back three tigers that had been transfigured from what was his fire whiskey. The fury in the woman's eyes was almost palpable to the man as he reversed the transfiguration with a wave of his hand.

"Minerva, please, calm yourself!" Albus strained out, dodging to the left as the woman banished glass shards at him as quickly as she could. A wave of his wand later and the Deputy Headmistress was bound by chains to the chair directly across from his desk, her wand floating calmly into his hands with a wandless disarming spell. "I could not have known what would befall young Harry at the hands of his family; it was the only option at the time!" Albus lied through his teeth, once again trying to salvage whatever he could of the disastrous discovery.

Ever since the man was young he had always gotten what he wanted. It was just after his sixth year that he met his first lover, Gellert Grindlewald. The dark duo had immediately begun to plan the takeover of the muggle world, wishing to subjugate the modern world to the wizards themselves. Together they coined the phrase 'for the greater good' and started their reign of terror. Albus had to leave Gellert after a few of the initial skirmishes, realizing that if he stood with Grindlewald, he too would fall.

Minerva didn't bother responding, instead glowering at the man as if her eyes could burn him. The ancient man reeled back at the look in her eyes, not having seen this kind of anger in her since her husband fought and died in the first war with Voldemort. The sound of quick footsteps cut off the woman when she opened her mouth to retort against the man.

"_**Tenebris Verbera!"**_

Severus Snape practically flew into the headmasters' office, a whip of phantasmal darkness flinging itself from his wand at the seated headmaster. Albus quickly slashed his wand downwards, the heavy fortress spell springing to life around him. It was a spell dating back to the seventeenth century, created by a man of the name Cornelius Agrippa. The whip wraps itself around the glowing stone barrier that completely surrounded Dumbledore, only to dissipate when the manipulative coot waved his hand and banished it with a burst of light magic.

"Severus, you are one step away from dying a very, very painful death!" Albus snapped, his grandfatherly visage finally snapping after the world flipped itself upside down on him. "I have been dealing with complete FOOLS all day; do not be one of them!"

Snape stared at the man with piercing eyes, his wand held in a tight dueling stance just three inches from his face. "You told me that Lily's son would be safe." The potions master snarled, his normally cool visage becoming dust in the wind. Minerva winced from her position in the chair, still trying to come to terms with her Godson's death. With speed not seen in the man since his youth, Dumbledore sent two over powered reductor curses at Severus and Minerva, both of them soon falling into unconsciousness.

The lord of light sighed deeply as he rose from his seat, his wand glowing with power as he charged mental based magic into it. These two would no longer be causing him trouble, and by controlling these two, he could surely restore his reputation to what it should be. It was for the greater good, after all.

=+FoStA+=

A week passed in a blur to Harry, the boy having kept himself busy with restoring the sprawling abandoned complex to its former glory while Voldemort slowly grew accustomed to his body once again. The first day was spent mostly exploring the expansive area, most of it in good enough shape to be saved without much effort on either of their parts at all. The water tower had been emptied out after the death of all of the residence by the city of Epsom but it mattered little to the reborn soul. An aguamenti spell easily handled the need for water, but food was a completely separate issue in and of itself.

It was only due to Orochimaru's knowledge of wilderness survival that Harry was able to trap a few rabbits and squirrels in a snare, providing more meat for him than he had ever had in his seven years. The foliage of the Shinobi world and Earth proved to be identical to the young man's great relief, allowing him to forage through the dense woodlands that surrounded his lightly warded complex. Fireweed and Purslane grew in abundance in the woods as well as the Plantago plant and sheep sorrel which allowed Harry to have a slightly diverse diet.

While the Dark Lord himself recovered from his seven year stint as a black phantom, the younger of the two was busy securing the area around the two with wards during the day and planning a prison break during the night. Voldemort was helpful in the process as two minds are greater than one, and both of them wanted their followers free from their confines so the war could continue once again.

The second and third days were spend repairing the chapel and using Permanent Transfiguration charms to construct a sleeping and cooking area to the best of his ability. It was with sadness that Harry realized that until he had a wand, most of his magic is going to be wasted due to lack of control as well as the fact that his magical core was not even close to maturity. After deciding to only use his magic when chakra couldn't get the job done, the boy-who-lived began to train in chakra control and familiarize his body with the techniques he would later in life be famous for.

Voldemort grew stronger with each day, growing accustomed to having a body that contained more magic and chakra than he knew what to do with. Due to his perusal of Harry's memories, he too had many of the memories that pertained to chakra and its nature. Fascinated at such a useful and new energy at his beck and call, he had secluded himself to further himself in terms of control and hand seals.

While the blood clone was permanent, it still was a copy of Harry and not of Tom, therefor the two agreed to gather the DNA of Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr and simply clone a body using a mixture of Chakra and Magic rituals, something that the Sannin and the Dark Lord were very skilled at.

Unlike Orochimaru though, Harry's body would not produce the non-aligned chakra that most humans in the Elemental Nations did due to the massive amount of siphoned sage chakra present in the fusion. Techniques that were energy intensive came to Harry easily, but the finer control was beyond his ability until his body continued to mature and settle. The Henge and Kawarimi techniques came easily enough, but the Bunshin skill continued to elude the boy. Clones made of earth and chakra, however, were easy enough to cast for the boy, cutting down on the cleaning and maintenance of the place exponentially.

By the fourth day the Chapel had been completely converted into something reminisce of a Daimyo's palace thanks to the abuse of the Kage Bunshin technique, even if he could only summon ten of the clones before feeling the strain on his network. Harry continued to train his chakra control to the best of his ability though he continued to struggle with the leaf floating exercise. Left over lab equipment from the four hospital blocks were hauled into one of the rooms parallel to the main room of the renewed chapel and cleaned thoroughly so that the equipment would be ready for use.

It was on the fifth day that Harry made the most shocking discovery of all when he attempted to remove the altar from the Sanctuary, the holy item having completely resisted all forms of magical manipulation. Due to the nature of most exploding seals, they are not written in blood for the distinct reason of not destroying the user by misfire due to the chakra that completely saturates the blood if the coils are large enough, especially so if you are using sage chakra in any way, shape or form. Orochimaru was not one who studied the finer aspects of creating explosive seals, however, so the young boy who inherited his memories was not aware of that little detail.

It took thirty minutes and cursing in multiple languages before Harry was able to complete the rudimentary seal, having completely screwed it up after tripping up over the slightly warped flooring. After promising himself to completely transfigure the whole grounds of the place, he started pushing chakra through the seal and was almost stricken blind and deaf by the explosion.

Harry brought his hands up to block his face from most of the shrapnel, a few slivers of wood embedding themselves deep into his arm. Cursing the altar even more than he was earlier, the wounded boy slowly lowered his bloody arms and looked at the damage caused by the explosion with a disbelieving expression. A set of stairs lay beneath where the altar once stood leading deep into the earth, torches with pale green flames tracing the walls all the way down. With a small wave of his hand he configured a kunai knife from a piece of shrapnel, pushing enough magic into it to sustain it for hours. "It never hurts to be prepared, so they say." Harry murmured to himself, squatting down slightly to get a better look into what the explosive seal revealed.

Voldemort entered the large chapel soon after hearing the explosion, having been training to get used to using a physical body once again. He had been training almost nonstop since he took over the blood clone given to him by his Horcrux, who he considered his now most loyal follower because honestly, who made a better follower than yourself with extra baggage?

The alarm present on his face when he stared down at Harry almost made the younger snort. "Explosives never were our strong suit." Harry grumbled under his breath before straightening himself while removing the splinters and pebbles embeded in his arms with wandless magic.

"Do you wish to accompany into the darkness, My Liege?" Harry questioned with only slight sarcasm, as he clearly had no idea how he was supposed to address himself, even though he was clearly NOT Voldemort at the same time.

The Dark Lord scoffed before nodding his head towards Harry, beckoning him silently into the darkness below the blast zone. Tom thought long and hard on the matter of his soul fragment, of the boy who brought him back from the grave and where he stood with the Dark Lord and his plans.

Obviously the boy was loyal to his cause, he had his memories up until his death at the hands of Harry Potter. The fact that it was the unintentional Horcrux within his mortal enemy that had summoned him had surprised Voldemort at first, but when the man dove into the memories of the boy he was disgusted and fascinated. The memories of Orochimaru proved fruitful, and the usage of Chakra would surely benefit him and his inner circle well.

The fact that Harry grew up in an environment much like himself is what stilled the man from treating him like the rest of the Death Eaters. Too much potential was at his fingertips to be wasted with a foul temper, especially when Harry was completely devoted to him. His memories, and Orochimaru's memories made Harry different from being just a 'freak', it made him _different. __**Better.**_

Voldemort made a mental note to discuss his position with the boy and their plans before the night was over, but for now his curiosity was getting the better of him. Dark magic was stirred up after the explosion, leaving the area blanketed in a black wisp that tainted all that it touched.

Having embraced the darkness and all that it entailed, the weak residual blackness that seeped into everything else ignored the two Dark Lords, content with just resting along the walls after being forced below the surface of a 'holy' place for so long.

Harry and Voldemort shared a knowing look before staring down into the blackness, having received the message from the ambient magic that was stored below. 'Who knew magic could be so... vocal when mad?' Harry thought to himself, steeling himself while channeling his nature-aligned chakra through his limbs and body to strengthen his muscles beyond human capacity.

Harry stared into the darkness with resolution before channeling a large amount of chakra to his eyes in hopes of enhancing his vision. The darkness that shrouded the steps disappeared into a world of grey and white. Harry paused slightly before deciding to think about it later, stepping down into the corridor with the kunai knife hanging precariously in his grip.

The descent into the chakra highlighted depths gave the two Dark Lords little pause, their eyes easily piercing through the encompassing shadows. The further the two descended the more the more curious the two became. Finally, after a great distance down into the earth, the corridor began to change little by little. Once grey cobblestone was replaced by something much darker in color when the curious young man came into a dome shaped room where the walls and pillars that surrounded a pedestal in the middle of the room turned pitch black. Voldemort paused within the door frame, eying the artifact in the middle of the room as if he had just struck gold. Harry rolled his eyes as he watched his progenitor, soul wise, already start to plot and plan on what he was going to do with the object held in suspension in the center of the domed area.

Torches with ominously green flames adorned the wall every few feet, casting ghostly shadows that would have been more intimidating if his eyes couldn't see in extremely low light. A trench surrounded the pedestal in the middle of the dome, ebbing and churning a strange black liquid that Harry was unsure of as to what it was. Masks of porcelain and bone hung from each pillar, a monument to whatever group of people had at one point donned them. A single bridge crossed the easily ten foot trench filled with the mysterious liquid, though the bridge looked to be made of old wood as opposed to black stone like the rest of the room.

"You know, normally people would want to walk away from places like this but sure, I'll bite." Harry mused as he walked across the bridge quickly. As he approached the podium the ebony haired boy spied a large piece of jewelry that looked to be made purely of emerald. Harry thought hard as to where he had seen something similar as he pondered on the many magical objects Voldemort had ever gotten his hands on. Harry began to cast the few diagnostic charms he dared to use with his unstable core wandlessly, lacking the finesse for some of the finer, or darker, appraisal and diagnostic spells.

'Definitely some old magic at work here, it almost feels like… a wand should! This is an armlet!' Harry realized, his leader had only come across one capable of channeling magic in his many years of existance. The priceless artifact having been made out of mythril, an ore only the ancient dwarves knew how to smelt and forge, and it was easily worth more than the Ministry itself! "Now why would someone leave this just lying around, hmm?" He asked himself, gleeful that such a wonderful piece of equipment was at his fingertips.

The diagnostic charm came back with a dire warning, breaking Harry from his musing. 'Seems like some powerful stuff, that is. A severing enchantment to remove the arms of someone not of a certain bloodline… What family would leave an heirloom locked away beneath an old Chapel?'

Harry finally decided to leave the artifact where it was and not risk losing an arm over something as careless as pillaging heirlooms. Instead, he used a clone to do it for him. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke later and two more Harry's stood beside the original, already knowing what they were created for. One began to cast as many spells as it could wandlessly towards the suspended amulet, making sure that the curses were being neutralized one by one as the second clone worked on keeping the object in one piece.

Voldemort watched the two clones work while the original Harry walked to his side, just to be sure out of the explosion zone should the mythril armlet decide to become a bomb. "Is it really wise to attempt to disarm the charms, curses and hexes wandlessly?" Voldemort questioned, his tone indicating that he was not pleased that Harry was acting without waiting for orders.

Harry stared at the man beside him with a blank gaze before shrugging his shoulders. "Two working on it at once wandlessly is better than one with a wand, I assure you. We both know I know enough about magic to disarm something as trivial as these, we have done far worse."

The elder Dark Lord simmered before his anger vanished as quickly as it came. "You are lucky you are MY Horcrux, Harry, or you would be on the receiving end of a few... _creative_ curses I picked up in Egypt."

While the two continued to argue amongst one another, the two Shadow Clones of Harry had disarmed what was left of the traps on the armlet, having to resort to heavy spell work and ward breaking to finally break the object free from its protection.

Harry watched with bated breath as his two clones gave a final checkup over the object with diagnostic spells before nodding to their creator. "They are clear." and with that, the two clones disappeared in a cloud of smoke just as they came.

Voldemort wandlessly summoned the armlet to his possession, almost reverently stroking the powerful device before slipping it onto his arm. His own diagnostic charms and a few more of his darker spells showed that the marvelous channel for magic, a thousand times more so than a wand, was curse free and able to be used.

The man once known as Tom turned his crimson gaze to the green and golden eyed boy at his side, as if daring him to lay claim to the artifact over him. Harry tore his gaze from the older Dark Lord after a few moments of wondering if genjutsu would work on the man. "You may be the original, but do not forget I still have your memories, Voldemort, I am you and more."

"And do not forget you are on my side, regardless on petty disputes such as this." Voldemort purred back, almost pleased at the add lip his Horcrux had given him. It had been a long seven years with no banter, no speech. Just seven years of madness. His return to humanity was far better than what he could have hoped for, and the sweet sweet irony to the fact that it was his mortal enemy that brought him back was not lost to him.

After finally making their way out of the darkened depths and Harry cutting the flow of chakra to his eyes due to almost being blinded, the boy used what little earth manipulation he could and sealed the stairwell in, though he left a small seal with his chakra in it so he could locate the exact entrance later. Harry made due with his promise to himself and began to transfigure the old wood flooring into a smooth stone surface and a layer of green floor rugs over that.

Days six and seven were spent on familiarizing himself with the memories of both Voldemort and Orochimaru, hoping that the more he studied them over, the easier they would come to him when a situation called for certain skills and experience. Voldemort was back into ready form by the end of the sixth day and the seventh day was spent surveying the surrounding area and warding the place was well as he could, which was better than possible thanks to the mythril armlet, so as to avoid muggles and their filth spilling over into his latest sanctuary.

"Harry, how goes the lab?" Voldemort questioned from his spot within the chapel, looking up from the paper work he had delivered from Gringotts as to the status of his many accounts and holdings.

Harry grinned before beconning the Dark Lord to follow him, sending a light ligelimency probe towards the current Leader of Darkness to goad the man. While being Voldemort was a big part of Harry's memories, he was still a Shinobi and a Sage as well as a Wizard and his memories as Orochimaru and Harry set him far apart from just being another follower of Voldemort's.

The young Potter did, however, swear to an alliance between the two as he was one of the only people who could be trusted, seeing as Harry was, in a way, Voldemort himself as well. "I have just finished the Serum needed to give another, no matter their ages, chakra coils and the ability to produce chakra by themselves."

"And you are positive it works?" Voldemort questioned, interested in the concept of giving his followers the abilities that could easily conquer the muggle and magical worlds.

The young Dark Lord nodded his head before gesturing to the snake now resting in his private labs, next to the copper cauldron needed to brew the serum. "Meet Manda, the first Chakra using copperhead on this planet."

Manda, whose size was easily eight times the size of your average copperhead, bowed his head towards Voldemort before hissing his greetings. _"Greetingss, Dark Lord, Master speaks very highly of you."_

Voldemort smiled and hissed his own greetings before turning his attention back to Harry. "If it is good enough for a snake, it is good enough for a human." Voldemort stated in a bland tone, having known that to be true on almost every occasion. Despite being the Darkest of Dark Lords, or so he told himself, giving veritaserum to Nagini was the most terrifying thing Tom Riddle had ever experienced in his horrid and treacherous life.


	2. Setting the gears in motion

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 2, Setting the gears in motion

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto or Harry Potter.

A/N: A huge thanks to Ranmaleopard, terfa, kkarthik9, PCheshire and Gekasia Kidd for bothering to review this story, it makes me VERY happy! To answer a question asked, Harry will NOT be making a surprise visit in the Elemental Nations, the only time the two dimensions would come together is if another one in infinity conglomeration of a TON of different variables. However, Harry will use Orochimaru's knowledge to its fullest advantage, such as knowing how to construct his own hidden village. Voldemorts abilities at warding will only make it that much more secure, considering the only Shinobi to grace the magic world will be those who side with Harry and Voldemort, who will be dark, no doubt, but not evil in this story.

Evil is the intent behind the actions, not the actions themselves. Good is the same way, thus Harry and Voldemort will be Good, and Dumbledore and Grindlewald will be Evil. Its just that easy. Not everything in this story is going to be black or white, and some actions by either Harry, Voldemort, or those on the death eaters side will cause slight discomfort with some, if not a majority of the readers. Dumbledore and Grindlewald's actions even more so.

It has taken me a long time to get the nerve and self confidence back to rewrite this, as it was one of my favorites to write. If you have any questions about the story, feel free to ask away either through a PM or review.

=+FoStA+=

Dark clouds hung over Diagon Alley, blotting out the sun and casting a shade of melancholy over the many gathered for the first Vigil held in decades. Droves of witches and wizards from the greater European area flocked to the English area after the news of Harry Potters death reached far and wide.

Those ranging from the victims of the first war to the children who idolized the Boy-who-Lived gathered around a large statue that was erected on July 30th, the final birthday gift that the wizardry world would be able to give him. Carved from pure marble was the visage of James and Lily Potter, holding a baby Harry aloft between them.

Albus Dumbledore stood off to the side as he observed the crowds laying flowers and small tokens on the small coffin that lay before the statue. They were never able to 'recover' the body as Vernon and his family completely disappeared, the tormentors never returned to privet drive four to retrieve their belongings.

In hopes of regaining at least SOME of his public image, Albus had donated the many galleons needed to procure the large block of marble as well as the coffin made of ivory wood. Though, the money really wasn't his at all, it was the late Potter families that he had manipulated into making him their final benefactor. With Harry dead, the decrepit headmaster drained their accounts dry and moved the physical objects into his own private vaults beneath Hogwarts.

Even as the rain began to fall, the crowds of downtrodden folks refused to leave the Alley. Every shop had closed early so that the owners may attend the public service held in honor of the fallen Potter family. The current Minister for Magic, Millicent Bagnold stood and watched as the heart broken public poured their love and sorrow unto the Idol, her eyes too leaking liquid anguish.

The entire magical population of England was enraptured by the young boy who saved them from the most destructive dark lord they ever had the displeasure of experiencing, and Millicent was no exception.

Her days as Minister were numbered; there was no doubt about it. Albus Dumbledore was not the only political figure to have the finger pointed into their eyes, even if she WAS the one who approved of sealing away the potters will, allowing for Sirius Black to be held in Azkaban without trail, and worst of all, she allowed Albus to place the boy in the abusive household. The two candidates currently running for election, even if she was still in office, were Cornelius Fudge and Amelia Bones.

If Fudge took office, Millicent knew the Magical world as she knew it was doomed. The man's hand was far too deep in Lucius's coffers for him to be anything but a crooked politician. Though, when she thought about it, she herself was no better. She WAS in the pocket of Albus Dumbledore, after all. She decided a week ago that while the crowd was in attendance to this melancholic day, she would come clean with her corruption and only hope that one day her ancestors would forgive her for the atrocities she let slide.

A figure slinked along the outside of traffic, steadily walking towards the entrance to Knockturn Alley with a quick gait. His cloak was something truly curious to the few wizards who looked up from their downcast gazes, colored black with crimson clouds decorating it.

The style of cloak was something that no other magic practitioner had ever seen before, but not daring to assume the man was a muggleborn. The styles worn by those of 'muddied' birth and those of 'purity' were drastically different due to different raisings, and nothing about this man screamed muggleborn.

After a few moments of walking, the figure lifted his gaze and stared out with unnaturally crimson eyes, taking in the details of the area in complete silence. After a few moments of deliberation, he ducked into a signless shop located in between Cobb & Webb's and another Unnamed building that was common in this shady area.

The cloaked man strode up to the counter with a quickness and knocked on the counter three times, paused for a second, and then knocked two more times in a strange rhythm that any who over heard it would be hard pressed to duplicate. A low murmuring came from behind a thick purple curtain that hid the back room of the low quality building from view.

A young woman parted the curtains slowly, her eyes the color of hazel and hair as black as night. Fine woven robes adorned her lithe frame, surely enchanted with the way the magic was slowly rolling off of her. "How may I help you, Sir?" The woman asked with a thick Albanian accent.

"I wish to browse your… used wand selection." The cloaked man finally drawled, looking around the room as if completely disinterested by her presence. The Russian quickly left and returned with a wooden box carried beneath her arm. "These are the best we have, Sir, recently procured from… well, they aren't here to tell you their names, needless to say."

The seven wands the woman brought back were in almost flawless condition, though a few had small chips and cracks near the tips and two with them in the base. The man finally grabbed the wand two from the furthest right, the only one there that was dark black, as well as larger than ten inches.

"That particular wand is something a bit special as far as wands go. It belonged to a very, very, VERY dark wizard who passed away a few years ago, terrible accident that was. Ebony wood, Runespores' three tongue's for a core, 12 inches. It's a solid wand but every person who attempted to get the thing to work ended up stunning themselves with it."

With a flick of his wrist, a very large amount of green and golden sparks shot from the tip of the illicitly acquired wand, only three or four red sparks showing up in the mix. The wand seemed to hiss in contentment before the rush of magic reached Harry, shocking him at how strong of a pull the wand had. A smile broke the figures cold visage only for a moment before he schooled himself into his usually cold and calm complexion. "How much will this be, Lady?"

If the woman was offended by the slight insult she didn't let it show, "Eight galleons."

The cloaked man stared at her before shaking his head in a negative expression. "I don't think so. The most I will pay is five. Do I need to remind you who I work for…?" he asked, brandishing his left forearm where the dark mark of Voldemort's inner circle lay bare, though far more complex than the usual protean charm. The woman gasped before shirking back away from the man as if burned.

The cloaked figure chuckled lowly before tossing five golden coins on the counter and left far quicker than he had arrived. The woman of Caucasian descent disappeared back through the curtain, screaming for her father to prepare their tribute to the Dark Lord, each aware that the mark would only be present if Voldemort walked the earth as a man.

=+FoStA+=

Three months free from the Dursleys and Harry could honestly say he was in better shape now than he had ever been and likely would have ever been had he remained with the foul beasts masquerading as humans. The four sprawling complexes that were abandoned due to events which still eluded the two Dark Lords now had muggle repelling, notice-me-not and fear inducing wards anchored down to four different obelisks the young hero created using very skillful earth manipulation. While he was not able to cast the most technical of the wards he knew, leaving those to Voldemort himself, those three had done well enough when he did not have a wand.

Two of the four hospitals were currently being renovated into separate strongholds capable of holding off a long term siege with ease. The uptake to fixing the place up was a long and arduous process for the boy, having only three months so far to familiarize himself with the knowledge necessary for such a large undertaking. One of the Hospitals had been completely restored into a working Laboratory and healing center, though he did not have an immediate need for either of them at the moment besides having spare bodies for both Voldemort and himself should worse come to worse.

Large tunnels were dug out from under the two buildings, leading to different entrance and escape routes that were miles and miles away from Asylum One as Harry decided to name his newest base, despite the usually negative opinion of such buildings. Each entrance had a seal on it that would only open up if any type of chakra was pushed through it, a skill that only a two people possessed, one of which was far more skilled at the energy than the other.

The use of Earth techniques came easiest to the boy, though water manipulation was a very close second. After hours and hours of training and using Kage Bunshin to speed the process up whenever possible, Harry could safely say that he was low Chuunin in terms of skill with the Doton style and high Gennin in Suiton.

Harry had discovered after one month in to his training that his transformation technique was not at all like the one Orochimaru used. Instead of just a cloud of chakra surrounding him in an illusion, the technique would literally become a physical transformation like what a metamorphagus would perform. After pondering on the revelation for hours, the fair skinned youth came to the conclusion that it was due to the very dense spiritual chakra that lingered in his coils.

The toad sages of Mount Myoboku learned to harness the sage techniques by balancing the natural energy they absorbed using mostly their physical energy and using their spiritual energy to compensate. The White Snake Sage of Ryuchi cave, however, taught Orochimaru to use Senjutsu in the complete opposite way. Though Orochimaru knew how to use the energy of the world, his body switching technique did not allow him to make use of the knowledge to its fullest effect.

As opposed to gathering the chakra within his body like one would do normally, the Cursed Seals that the white snake passed out like candy were used to gather the chakra without any outside influence of the sealed and use said chakra to power their cursed seals second stage. Each and every one of his bodies was branded with the cursed seal so that even if it was a minute amount, there was enough to give him a permanent sage mode.

Harry, however, was not branded with a cursed seal. He had something much better, in fact, the ability to produce the spiritually thick energy as others would produce non-aligned chakra. Genjutsu techniques and those requiring great control were a breeze to the boy now, his control over the potent energy reaching the high jounin category.

After a month of solitude, the young sage would wander out into the town of Epsom for four days out of the week while Voldemort continued to reestablish his connections in the magical world. After pickpocketing an unsuspecting man, Harry dipped down into an alley to get a good look at the current muggle currency. Luckily for Harry he discovered a few hundred pound notes in the wallet, which the boy studied thoroughly before permanently conjuring himself as many of the notes as he could. Due to the fact that they were conjured, the goblins in the wizardry world would not take the money to transfer them into galleons, but that didn't mean that the muggle world wouldn't.

The estranged Potter 'washed' a few hundred dollars by visiting a few different locations and purchasing only small amounts of items per transaction. For weeks he would don different disguises and shop around town, getting a feel for the town and finding some of the 'seedier' areas and people so he could eventually start up small time connections. It was the third week of June when The Derby was held that Harry's monetary situation became a moot point. With a transformation in place and a conjured ID, the now black haired 'man' was able to place a massive bet for a large black stallion that caught his eye.

Though shinobi were not able to manipulate gravity without the Rinnegan, Harry did not have that limitation thanks to his knowledge of magic. It was three quarters through the race before the boy made his move, sending a small concussive force at the legs of the chestnut colored horse directly behind the one he placed his bets on. The jockey was flung from the chestnut horses back as it went down, the man slamming into the horse that was beside him and soon only the Ebony horse that Harry bet upon was the only one left standing.

The disguised boy left The Derby over one million pounds richer due to the overwhelming defeat of the competition, most men and women walking away from the annual race with an extremely sour face. Disillusioned Kage Bunshin scoured the crowd and looted the unsuspecting civilians as Harry made his way back to The Asylum.

"It's like taking candy from a babe." The Potter chuckled as he took stock of the many things acquired by his invisible squad of duplicates. Dozens of jeweled rings were sealed away into one of the storage seals Harry permanently Tattooed into his left arm while the money was sealed within his right. The only survivor of the killing curse set course for The Leaky Cauldron once he was sure that he had enough to start an account with the Goblins under guise of Orochimaru, mostly due to the fact that Voldemort already had an account under the Riddle name and it was impossible for anyone to recognize him as the Snake Sage.

=+FoStA+=

The Goblins practically fell over themselves to set up the boy's account, not having seen such a large deposit in muggle money in almost a hundred years. After milling Harry into a backroom away from prying eyes, a smartly dressed Goblin spoke up and offered him one of their more… 'Special Services'. For a fee, Harry was able to get a completely forged Identity for both the muggle and magical worlds after lying through his teeth and saying that he came from a backwater magical community based out of Japan that was usually far removed from the rest of the world.

During World War Two, Japan was devastated after America dropped bombs of terrifying power over Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The muggle Japan was unaware of the great travesty in the magical side of their nation, close to eighty thousand people were removed from the world without a clue as to why or how they died.

After the war, the magical capital of Japan, Kyoto, announced to the rest of the non-mundane world that they would be completely withdrawing from the world to repair and recover from the travesty. The mere fact that Harry was extremely fluent in Japan's native tongue was just icing on the cake as far as the Goblins were concerned.

The small statured bankers ate up his story with a smile on their face, most likely knowing he was lying through his teeth but didn't bother calling him out on it. Orochimaru of the Akatsuki clan was his name while henge'd in his current form as far as the world was concerned. No form of Mage Sight that any wizard knew was capable of seeing through his transformation as the very nature of his chakra was on a completely different 'frequency' than any magic was.

After a tiring day of dealing with the money hungry creatures and a copious amount of blood to tie to the official Akatsuki clan vault, Harry started his trek through the very crowded streets of Diagon Alley and its many outlets that branched from the magically expanded shopping district. It was one day away from his Eighth birthday and he wanted to spend it at his reclaimed home in the Chapel, not dealing with muggles or magicals of an ignorant nature.

After overhearing a particularly loud conversation between two sobbing women, Harry had to brace himself against a wall and collect his thoughts. 'Apparently the magic world thinks I'm dead… Just why do they think that?'

The son of Lily reached out and grabbed the arm of a man who was walking by at a sedated pace, holding a finger to his lips as he pulled the man slightly closer to him. "Tell me everything you know about Harry Potter and I will pay you generously."

The man stared at Harry incredulously for a second before snorting, "The boy defeated you-know-who around eight years ago and ended the war before he was able to even talk. However, apparently he couldn't even survive filthy muggles!" The man spat the word muggle with more venom than Harry had ever seen in his uncle, though it was not without surprise as Vernon had the emotional capacity of a flobberworm.

"His so called 'uncle' offed the boy and hid the body somewhere, a squib from across the way from where he lived reported it to the DMLE after witnessing that monster dragging the Boy-Who-Lived from his home bloodied and beaten."

Harry nodded slowly before placing a pouch with twenty galleons into the man's hands and shoving him forward into the milling traffic of the saddened alley. "So I'm dead, hmm?" He pondered as the bewildered man disappeared into the crowd twenty galleons richer than he was by happenstance.

The young parseltongue slipped into Knockturn Alley at a much quicker than normal pace, knowing that he only had a small amount of time to procure his illicit goods in peace while most of the population was busy either morning or celebrating his so called death. 'Now just why did a squib live across the street from my previous place of residence? Was there someone watching me this whole time? Someone actually NOTICED the beatings and only reported them to the authorities when they assumed I was DEAD?!'

Harry decided to think on the subject later, not wanting to lose his cool in Knockturn where the denizens of the corrupt shopping area would jump on any weakness present. Assassins and muggers roamed the streets of the dark alley, but today seemed to be the exception. 'They must be lingering with the crowds. Smart thinking, with so many people present they wouldn't think twice about being 'accidentally' bumped into.' He thought to himself, trying to detract from the thoughts of being spied on his entire life.

Before entering an unnamed building, he made sure that his dark mark was visible and his henge firmly in place. Procurement of a wand that was a surprisingly good match for the boy was as easy as flaunting his position in Voldemort's circle, as was getting hundreds of different potion ingredients from a shady apothecary next door to Cobb and Webb's. The Hag that served him his ingredients identified herself as Helga Rorcshire which was a family who has had a long history with enchanted items of all sorts.

"For such a noble man, I could part with a cauldron capable of multiplying any potion brewed within it threefold, so that you get three potions per any single potion you create. For a price, of course." Helga smiled towards Harry, yellow and black teeth poking from between her shriveled lips in what looked more like a grimace than what she was aiming for.

"And what kind of price would you demand, woman?" Harry drawled in a low tone, perfectly mimicking the pitch and slur used by most of the pureblood aristocrats. 'I don't care what the price is; I have need of an item like this.' He thought to himself though he did not let his decision show on his face. The two bartered for closer to fifteen minutes before finally coming to a deal. She would part with two enchanted cauldrons, and Harry would leave her, living, with the fact that she lived another day after daring to attempt to barter with the Dark Lord.

=+FoStA+=

The young sage had finally finished his shopping when the current Minister for Magic stepped up on a conjured stage around ten paces from the statue of his deceased parents and himself. The mourning citizens began to all approach the stage as Millicent Bagnold cast the Sonorous charm on herself.

"Thank you all for gathering here on this day of mourning. We lost a hero when Harry passed away, we truly did. And it is with heavy heart that I admit that it was a good deal my fault." The crowd gasped at the woman's proclamation while a few towards the back began to yell in outrage.

"I have made many, many great mistakes during my term as Minister, and I have failed not only you all, but myself. I was convinced by a manipulative old codger that placing the boy with his 'relatives' would be in his best interest, never mind also condemning Sirius Black to Azkaban without trail. I was too late to stop the Potter family vault from being emptied once his death certificate was signed." Millicent continued to ramble for a few minutes in near hysterics, most of her crimes laid bare before the now raging public.

Harry listened on with growing horror at Millicent's admissions, a cold anger at Dumbledore and the incompetent woman growing more and more and-

"_**Avada Kedavra!" "Bombarda Maxima!" "CRUCIO!"**_

Harry stomped his right foot the moment he felt the building magic, three domes of earth completely surrounding him to block four stray spells barreling at him before he sank into the ground using the 'hiding like a mole' technique. Two Kage Bunshin spawned on the surface, one who dispelled immediately to inform Harry that the coast was clear and another to intercept four men in crimson regalia from attacking a man known as Asmodeus Greengrass, current patron of the Greengrass family. Harry sprung from the earth behind the shell-shocked man and flung three kunai coated in wind chakra at three more would be attackers. The boy acted quick and attempted to side apparated Asmodeus away but Anti-Apparition wards were already placed a mile wide around the entire alley.

The Shinobi cursed before summoning more Shadow Clones completely decked out in ANBU gear without so much as a whisp of smoke or a pop. A massive group of fifty more crimson cloaked individuals stormed the area around Harry and the shocked head of the Greengrass family, neither of them expecting to see such a large battalion of unknown attackers descending on Diagon Alley.

The wizards and witches seemed to stumble a bit and back away from the fifteen clones as they seemingly phased into existence out of nowhere considering the Anti-Apparition wards which befuddling the terrorists as to where the figures came from.

Five of the ANBU clones began rushing through handseals beneath their cloaks before spitting out razor sharp blades of wind from their mouths, mowing down a group of three that were too close together. One the final body hit the ground; the large force sprang into action and began to send attacks towards the savior of the magical world. Harry slapped Asmodeus and hissed at the man to snap out of it before wandlessly banishing a massive amount of rubble towards the attacking force, crushing a few of them beneath the flying boulders and chunks of earth.

The ten clones began to grab as many civilians as possible and get them out of the battlefield, using the doruheki skill to create twenty foot tall walls to hide the innocent passersby. One clone stood at the top of the wall and began to signal out to the rest of the clone regiment orders via handseals used by the Ne forces of Konoha.

While Kage Bunshin in mass amounts like the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was famous for was a bit beyond Harry's abilities, the density of his Chakra and its heavy spiritual alignment allowed him to summon more precision than Orochimaru would have been able to in his prime and not feel it in the least.

More and more clones jumped into the crowd of carmine cloaked fools and detonated themselves into large spheres of wind blades with extreme prejudice after making sure that no innocent civilian would get caught in the deadly attacks.

Asmodeus finally came to and stepped away from Harry before sending over powered stunners and transfigurations into the fray while the dozens of ANBU began using any Jutsu they could think of. Tigers roared to life from rubble surrounded a large group of downed wizards, not letting them flee the scene of the crime before they can be apprehended. A few carefully aimed spells and the Greengrass Patriarch turned the tides of the battle completely in their favor. A handful of clones started using collaboration techniques on Suiton and Raiton attacks, electrified water bullets drilled into the easily defeated terrorists left and right.

While not fatal, the disguised dark wizards and witches passed out due to the pain of having their ribs broken and being electrocuted simultaneously. Earthen snakes sprung from the ground and sank their stone fangs deep into nerve clusters of a few of the attacking force, paralyzing them in place without harming them more so than necessary.

When an ANBU with a snake mask signaled to him of incoming red robed figures, though not the same shade as the terrorists wore, Harry dispelled the clones and pulled his illegally purchased wand from his robes. A few more stunners for show and the boy was confident he could POSSIBLY get away without revealing anything.

Auror forces finally arrived on the scene by broomstick, raining down spellfire on the surprised and thoroughly embarrassed array of unprepared buffoons. Within ten minutes of fighting and incapacitating, 49 dead or incapacitated magicals lay at the feet of the law enforcement.

Harry had one of the ANBU clones procure an unconscious man for interrogation, the cloaked man and clone being under the meseigakure technique that Jiraiya taught Orochimaru in an attempt to get the Snake Sannin to help him peep on their teammate Tsunade when they were still Gennin.

The death count of the surprise attack was drastic, over fifty muggleborn having been caught by the first volley of terrible magic. Millicent Bagnold was killed within five minutes of the conflict, her guards killed by two hooded figures that drifted out of the alley directly behind them with glistening silver daggers of ornate design. Dumbledore fled the scene after checking over the body of the dead Minister with an oddly designed wand that caught Harry's eye. 'Now why is that wand so familiar…?'

Asmodeus returned to Harry's side after speaking to the dark skinned Auror who introduced himself as Kingsley Shacklebolt. "I don't know who you are, but thank you for not only saving my life, but watching my back while I was… distracted." The head of the Greengrasses finally spoke up, ashamed of himself for locking up like a green deputy in their first major battle. Harry easily brushed off the mans apologies and promised to meet with the man at a later date while giving him a small charmed mirror that would allow the man to get into contact with him.

Asmodeus nodded his hand and thanked Harry once again before apparating away once he was sure he had recovered enough magic after the surprise attack.

More than one Auror approached the disguised man, asking him questions about the attacks used and some in an attempt to bring him in for questioning. Madam Bones arrived quickly and put an end to that and sent the frantic law enforcers away with a wave of her hand and a shout. Screams and wailing barely reached Harry's ears over the rushing blood in his ears; nothing around him made sense for more than a few minutes.

Amelia watched in slight fascination as the strangely clothed man schooled his features back into an emotionless mask, his baleful eyes with three comma's decorating the pupil staring deep into her own. Harry did not dare use a Legilimency probe to glean knowledge from the woman's mind due to the fact that she was most likely an avid practitioner of Occlumency like himself. "It has been a long day, Mr…?"

"Orochimaru of the Akatsuki Clan, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Bones." The disguised Harry said, sticking his hand out for her to shake. She chuckled at the muggle form of greeting before taking his hand in her own and shaking it vigorously.

Harry almost grimaced from the jarring motion but did not dare comment on it. "Who were those men… what were those attacks and where did they go?" The slightly shaken woman began to fire out question after question only for Harry to raise his hand to calm her.

"I'm not sure myself. I don't recall ever having seen magic quite like theirs." Harry lied through his teeth after sending out a slight confundus charm wandlessly to muddy the sharp woman's thoughts slightly. Not enough for her to take notice, but even the slightest bit of the charm thrown into the mix does the trick. He began to show signs of exhaustion in hopes that the woman would give up questioning him further so he could get away before she connected the dots.

"A-alright, of course. I'm terribly sorry about that, really, it's just… the first war really took its toll on all of us, and an unknown force attacking us during a day of grieving is... unbelievable." Amelia murmured out while adjusting her monocle sheepishly. Kingsley watched the interaction between the head of his department and the mysterious man that risked his neck to save her if what they were saying was any indication.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the woman and assuring her that he would send a representative of his clan to speak with her, Harry was finally able to escape from Diagon Alley with more questions floating through his head than he cared to find the answer for. With the revelations Millicent was able to spout in the time before her death, Harry was sure now more than ever it was high time he put his start the first of his many future undertakings. "It's time for a jail break."

=+FoStA+=

Once again Albus Dumbledore sat in his office with a frown scarring his grandfatherly image. Millicent was able to say far too much before he killed her after having two of his men deal with her body guards in the confusion of the attack. The 'Terrorist' attack was his brainchild of the week, hoping that he could off two large thorns in his side at once.

Under a particularly strong imperious curse, Severus Snape was forced to gather as many death eaters of low ranking as he could over the past few weeks, claiming that they needed to be ready to strike down the Minister in the name of their soon to be returned Dark Lord. Dumbledore was unaware that the Dark Mark had already returned in full power to those that followed the Dark Lord, and that most of the Inner Circle were preparing for their Lord to return to them.

Luckily, the forces that Snape rounded up were the remaining cannon fodder of the previous war and those that had no idea of the finer going-ons of the Dark Lord, thus they were expendable in the end.

Snape attempted to resist the imperious curse long enough to let the late Bagshot spill her guts to the crowd of belligerent citizens from around the magical world, each having felt the wrath of Voldemort in one way or another. The plan was perfect, Millicent and her guards were to go down in the first attack, and a few 'Dark' families would later be overwhelmed.

Albus had pulled many strings to finally get most of the Auror forces far away from the town square under false claims of mass attacks in the mundane world where in fact, the attack was to take place in the heart of London itself. The scheming lord of the light had no idea that such beings existed under his very nose, using magic capable of crushing a large force of violent militants with practiced ease.

A unit such as that, one that could come and go without a trace and cause that much devastation was sure to have come from somewhere, but as to who or what they were was still a mystery to him. Of the fifty men and women at Snapes command, only twenty were alive to tell the tale. Some were sliced into hundreds of chunks, others were impaled with kunai knives, some electrocuted, and the list goes on.

The fact that a kunai knife of all things was present told Dumbledore that Japan was somehow involved, but last he heard they had completely withdrawn from the world with a magic curtain so strong that Russia would be jealous.

After attempting to contact Severus for multiple hours with no response, Dumbledore came to the conclusion that he was one of the many so completely eviscerated by the powerful attacks that his body couldn't be identified even by magical means.

Minerva was in her office going over the many reports needed to be sent to the ministry that she had been putting off due to Albus's manipulations, her mind completely befuddled thanks to the imperious she too was placed under.

Professor Flitwick was growing entirely too suspicious for the headmasters likings, but did not dare attempt to place the goblin descended wizard under his thrall. Goblins were completely resistant to both the imperious and the cruciatus curses thanks to their physiological and magical makeup being completely different than that of a human, thus sparing the dueling champion from the magic at Dumbledores control.

Rumors had already started circulating around that it was almost a sure thing for Cornelius Fudge getting the position of Minster, which threw a massive monkey wrench into his multi-layered plot to maintain control of the magical world. Another shot of fire whiskey down the hatch and Albus was ready to call it a night. The next few days were going to test the patience of many different people, him included.


	3. Back in Black and the Price of Freedom

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 3, Back in Black/The Price of Freedom

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto or Harry Potter. Period.

Harry WILL be gaining a few summons, but they will be much like Manda2 in the manga, which was created by Kabuto if I recall correctly. If KABUTO can make summons, then HARRY can make summons. It's just icing on the cake that Harry has a much larger base of snakes and reptiles to work with, not to mention the extreme advances in technology and science the real world has compared to the Elemental Nations. Harry will be able to communicate with ANY reptile, not just snakes, including the magical variety.

Voldemort and Harry will be making many changes towards their approach when it comes to Muggleborns. If they are magic, they are to be protected and supported. That will be further explained as this chapter and the next few progress. While they are dark, they wont be quite as evil as others will make them out to be.

Thank you to Mohammad Alzo , Rasdra, Kiree Takanashi, ThemysteriousOtaku, Star Iron and DLM4 for takin the time to review my story and give me much needed feed back on what I need to work on within this story. Please continue the wonderful support!

=+FoStA+=

Amelia Bones was a woman of many talents as some of her classmates would say. She was diligent, had a strong back and wasn't afraid of squaring up with someone if push came to shove, but dealing with a heart broken ex prisoner was not something she had experience with.

Sirius Black was given the trial by Veritaserum he deserved after Fudge was accepted as the Minister for Magic just two weeks after the 'Potter's Day Massacre' as the solemn people of magical England called it. The man was compensated heavily for his wrongful incarceration, but all of the money in the world wouldn't bring the only living remnant of James and Lily back to life.

Murdered by muggles is not something many Magicals could grasp, even the Muggleborn were outraged at the travesty, but none so as much as Sirius. Sirius had sworn to himself then and there that he would hunt down and slaughter the monsters responsible for killing his godson, it was the least he could do to put his demons to rest.

"Sirius please let me be the first to offer you my condolences… We have done all we can do for you. Albus Dumbledore has his influence in countries all over the world and holds many high positions of power." Amelia finally broke the silence after Sirius eyeballed her for longer than five minutes without speaking.

The Head of Black scoffed before looking away, mumbling obscenities under his breath in multiple different languages. "Albus too-many-fucking-names Dumbledore will get his. I don't care WHAT positions he has, the man will pay for this."

Amelia simply occupied her hands and pretended she was not paying attention while Sirius continued to rage, plausible deniability and all of that. Sirius finally ended his tirade with a deep sigh, slouching back further in his chair as if it could swallow him whole.

The ex-Azkaban inmate looked too far beyond his years for Amelia's liking. During the first war, Sirius was one of her squad mates after they graduated from Hogwarts and finished Auror Academy. They were very close and had a blooming relationship, but Amelia was fooled into believing the man responsible for betraying the Potters and killing those muggles.

It was Peter Pettigrew who was the secret keeper, Peter who slaughtered those innocent people and framed his long-time friend for everything. Madam Bones truly felt terrible about the whole situation and could only hope the make amends with the broken man.

A knock at the door broke the two from their conversation abruptly, the Ministers secretary poking her head in the door. "Ma'am, there is a… 'Orochimaru no Akatsuki' here to see you. Should I send him away?" Amelia shot from her seat and ushered the strange cloaked man in, her secretary having been brushed aside by Harry when he entered the room.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your meeting, Madam Bones, but I think it is for the best. Mister Black, I have someone who is _very_ interested in meeting you."

Sirius stared at the man long and hard, taking in his appearance and judging if he was trustworthy. A black cloak with strange red clouds and a high collar adorned his torso; black pants with white tape around the ankles were tucked into the weirdest sandals Sirius had ever seen on his life completed the strangers ensemble.

The man had long black hair tied into a ponytail and unnaturally golden eyes that almost seemed predatory. Purple markings surrounded his eyes and left a peak towards his nose, giving him an awfully snake-like visage.

'I never thought I would call a pair of eyes 'predatory', that's just weird!' Sirius thought to himself before shaking his head slightly. He rose from his slouched position in the chair and stood up finally. He wasn't quite recovered from Azkaban yet, but the potions provided to him to rejuvenate him were fantastic!

"Just who are you, and who wants to meet me?" Sirius finally spoke, his arms folded tightly across his chest. The man looked like a Dark Wizard for one thing, just the way he stood screamed dangerous. He didn't see any weapons on him, but he knew first hand at what assuming got you in the long run.

A stern look from Amelia caused the Black to finally loosen up. "This man saved my life two weeks ago. He comes from an expansive family that hails from… Japan, was it?" Amelia stated, looking back at the man for him to finish introducing himself.

The Head of the DMLE and Orochimaru have already been in contact a few times since the attack, mostly for her to pick his brain for anything the mysterious man would give away and to award him the honor of holding a badge denoting his 'unofficial' Auror position for watching her back and protecting her from both the death eaters and the strange masked force.

While Harry was pleased with the notion and slightly regretful on his deception, he was going to milk the reward for all that it was worth. Making connections and a few subtle words to the right people had left Harry with his own growing information network within the magical world, mostly from the neutral and darker gray families.

"Yes, Japan is correct Madam Bones. My name is Orochimaru of the Akatsuki clan, and I am here under orders from the leader of my clan to retrieve you, Mr. Black. He wishes to speak with you about the Blacks Businesses and investing in them if possible." Harry spoke up after a moment's pause. Harry had murmured Businesses as in plural on purpose, but if asked would say it was a slip of the tongue.

He didn't want to just discuss business with the man, but didn't dare reveal who he really was in front of the Minister. That would just be un-shinobi like of him. The child had been looking forward to meeting Sirius immensely after hearing he still had a godfather, one who was supposed to take him in and raise him as opposed to the Dursleys.

Sirius was startled at the mention of the Black Businesses. His grandfather Arcturus had created a smuggling ring back in 1962, dealing with illegal potions, potion ingredients and many other undesirable but necessary things needed for an underground operation like the Blacks had. The goblins didn't ask where the money came from and kept the ministry from prying into their business for a small fee.

The Head of the Most Honorable and Ancient House of Black nodded stiffly at this while Amelia looked on slightly confused. "I didn't know the Blacks had a family business, Sirius?"

Sirius sighed before shaking his head and waving his hand slightly. "It's not so much of a family business as it is a real estate company." That was the public cover at least. For this Orochimaru to know what went on behind the scenes was extremely disturbing. Lily, James and even Remus had no clue as to what the Black scion did under the cover of his business.

Even as an Auror he was able to keep the business operating, mostly by supplying Albus Dumbledore with healing potions and ingredients the death eater families had under a stranglehold by importing them from the Colonies in America. It was thanks to Sirius that Dumbledork's Order of the Phoenix was able to stay afloat at the war front.

Sirius made a major mistake when he signed over the rights for the old man to withdraw money directly from the Black vaults. There was absolutely nothing left for him save the money he had stashed at 12 Gimmauld Place. The Light Lord in England took everything from him. Albus Dumbledore stole his fortune, James, Lily and now Harry.

All because of a half-baked prophecy from a woman deserving of a Mental Institutions immediate intervention! Sirius wanted to hate Voldemort with all of his heart and soul, but the master that Bellatrix spoke of so reverently during their time together in Azkaban painted a far different picture than what Dumbledore and the rest of the Light families made Voldemort out to be.

Sirius would never willingly serve Voldemort, but he wouldn't take a firm stance against the man until he had a few questions answered. 'Was even the Dark Lord set up by Dumbledore?' Sirius remembered asking himself time and time again in Azkaban while Bellatrix would scream her throat raw.

Sirius finally nodded his head to Orochimaru and hugged Amelia before the two men Apparated away from the Head of the DMLE's office. Madam Bones stared at where the two departed for a second feeling as if there was a silent conversation that just transpired and she had no idea what it could have been about. "Real Estate, huh?"

=+FoStA+=

Harry led Sirius into the chapel with a blank look on his face, though his mind was racing a mile a minute. 'How exactly does one tell another that they aren't dead, and working with the man that killed his parents without freaking him out?'

Sirius watched Orochimaru closely as they walked through Asylum one in silence. The Black Heir was surprised at the area the two were walking through, having not quite seen anything like it before. Massive Japanese Sakura tree's littered the courtyard that rested in between the four completely renovated buildings, giving the area a very foreign feel to the Englishman. "You know, I've never seen a tree like those before. What are they?" Sirius finally cracked and broke the silence, something that made Harry grin slightly.

"Sakura Tree's, grown by the Clan Head himself. There is a very special type of… magic running through them, you see. If anyone with hostile intent towards any who reside in these walls were to somehow get through the wards, the leaves of the tree would immediately seek out said person and shred them completely and without mercy. Within the next week, we hope to grow the final product. These are just… experiments, most of them have one flaw or another."

Sirius blanched and slowly widened his distance from the innocent looking tree's, causing Harry to chuckle to himself lowly. Sirius just pouted at the dark looking 'man', his arms crossed along his chest like a child.

'Everyone has to have a way to cope with what they have seen in their lives, I suppose.' Harry thought to himself while Sirius began to rant about killer trees and how nothing is ever innocent in the magical world. 'Understatement of the year, right there.'

The two reached the chapel a few more minutes after walking, where Harry told Sirius to wait in the main lobby while he reported to the leader of his 'family'. Once out of view, Harry dropped his disguise and took a deep breath.

Harry wore clothing similar to what Sasuke wore while under Orochimaru's tutelage, though the rope belt was colored green and the usual place for the Uchiha crest was replaced with an Akatsuki cloud. The Uwagi robe Harry wore was ebony black and threaded with the strongest barrier enchantments he could possibly cast with a still developing magical core, though the fact that it acted as if it were a dementors cloak was the main reason for wearing it. The cloth beneath the belt was the same as Sasuke's, but the pants were as black as the Uwagi robe. His hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with two long locks of hair framing his face, leaving his lightning bolt scar out in plain sight.

Sirius had his back turned when Harry entered the room, which was all good and well as far as he was concerned. "Sirius Black, we meet at last." Harry finally spoke and had to stifle a laugh as Sirius jump a few inches in surprise. The Black spun on his heels to face where the voice came from and froze.

"H-… Harry?!" Sirius managed to choke out upon seeing the lightning bolt scar, "This better not be a joke or there will be HELL to pay!" The man yelled as he took a step back away from the boy.

Harry took a step forward and drew his wand quickly which caused Sirius to draw his own. "Relax, Godfather, I'm going to prove it to you that I'm alive." The black haired boy blurted out upon seeing the wand being drawn.

"I, Harry James Potter, do solemnly swear on my life and magic that I am Sirius Black's Godson, The Son of James and Lily Potter, and am not dead. Anything I am about to tell Sirius is completely and absolutely true. So mote it be!" Harry intoned before a golden glow surrounded him. An unfamiliar weight seemed to set itself into his magical flow, indicating the Oath had taken effect. "Lumos!" Harry incanted in an even tone, a bright pulse of light erupting from the tip of his wand.

Sirius fell to his knee's as he watched his godson swear a magical oath, knowing that there was absolutely no way he could have lied about what he said. "How… They said you were dead!" Sirius shouted as tears rolled down his face. If Harry thought the man looked beyond his years before, the Black looked positively ancient now.

"You recall Halloween night all those years ago, correct?" Harry asked slowly causing Sirius to flinch as if struck. When Harry's godfather nodded his head, the boy continued on with his story.

"Before Voldemort, don't give me that look, you'll think differently of him after this conversation, attacked my family that night, my mother did something that no other has been able to successfully achieve. She tied her magical core to mine and made me an… anchor, if you will, so that even if her physical body was to perish, she would still be bound to the mortal realm in a sense to protect me. Well, three and a half months ago Vernon gave me a rather nasty beating and abandoned me here in this very place. This is where my story gets a little… strange."

Sirius nodded his head for Harry to continue after processing the first part of the story, shocked that Lily would dabble in magics like that. Something that could tie your magic and spirit to the physical plane when the body passed away is not something that could be considered 'light' at all.

Sirius was the Heir to the most Noble and Ancient House of Blacks, he grew up using dark magic before the Gryffindor prejudice against anything 'Dark' got the better of him. It was in his blood, and he would be a fool and a liar if he said he wasn't great at using dark magic. As was his birthright.

"Well, when I pulled myself into the chapel here, a tear in time and space opened up right on top of me and pulled me into an attack that came from another dimension all together. Along with the rip in space came a chunk of someone's soul and the materials that once made up his body, including his chakra and memories. My theory is that the only reason I'm still alive to this day is due to the Blood Ritual my mother performed just before her death." Harry had to pause for a moment to take a deep breath before continuing.

"From a different plane of existence, she left me with their memories and a good few other gifts. Due to the magic and Chakra needed to completely rebuild my body and re-anchor my soul and theirs, Mom isn't around to protect me any longer. As odd as it sounds, Vernon abandoning me was the best thing to ever happen."

Sirius didn't reply at all to the final revelation, he just stared at Harry with a thousand yard gaze in his eyes. Harry shrugged his shoulders as if completely nonplussed about the whole situation. "Well of course you survived being pulled into a rip in space and time; you survived a killing curse at three months old!" Sirius finally said in an even tone, though the look in his eyes told Harry that Sirius was having a hard time coming to terms with what he said.

"So what is with the makeup, then?"

Harry stared at the man incredulously before a grin broke his face in half. "It marks my status as a Sage. Something I got from Orochimaru. A Sage is someone who is capable of harnessing the energy of nature itself, something my body produces by itself instead of me having to gather it and balance it with my chakra. Believe it or not, but I have come to find that the energy produced by nature here is known as Magic to many wizards and witches."

"And what exactly is this Cha-ki-ra or whatever you call it?" Sirius was terribly confused by now and had begun rubbing the back of his head. 'Why does it feel like I'm about to get a lesson I'll never forget?'

"Well, the best way to describe it is this; your body produces two types of energy that you harness. Physical energy for the body and Spiritual energy for the mind. When you use magic, you are using ONLY your spiritual energy that has been siphoned into the magical core and charged with intent and the natural energy gathered by the body unconsciously. Chakra is the mixture of Physical and Spiritual energy that has not been refined by either core or metabolism. Do you understand so far?"

Sirius nodded dumbly for a minute as if he didn't truly get it which caused Harry to sigh. The young Sage stomped his foot once and a split second later a snake made out of wood jumped from the floor and coiled around his left arm, the snake having the same shade of eyes as Harry as well as the purple markings. From the crown of the snakes head sprouted two horns that branched out slowly like one would see on a deer, fascinating Sirius at the display of skill. 'There is no way that was normal transfiguration, and Serpensortia doesn't summon a wooden snake.'

"How the hell did you become a Druid, then?" Sirius asked calmly as he watched the horned serpent flick its vine tongue over Harry's ear before it dove back into the wooden floor without any evidence it was ever there.

"That was not a Druidic spell, but it was something extremely similar. You see, Druids would take very minute amounts of natural energy and filter it with their magical core, giving them the ability to conjure plants and mass produce potions ingredients. That was the primary reason for them being hunted down and slaughtered like cattle, numerous families here in England were displeased with the Celt's oversaturating the market with once extremely rare plants." Harry explained in a chipper voice though Sirius was not at all as enthusiastic as Harry over theoretical knowledge, let alone history.

"Anyways, what I use is Sage Chakra, which is the mixture of Natural energy, Spiritual energy and Physical energy. If Magic is one dimensional and unaligned Chakra is two dimensional, Sage Chakra can be described as three dimensional, so to speak. It is much denser, more potent if you will, than Magic or Chakra could ever be normally. What you just saw was a Wood Style technique I created myself using chakra instead of magic. That was its baby stage."

Orochimaru was a genius of the highest caliber; no matter how much of a sociopath he was after Danzo got his hands on him. Everyone in the Elemental Nations assumed that Mokuton was a Kekkai Genkai of the Senju clan, but the prodigal student of Sarutobi Hiruzen knew otherwise.

After studying the DNA of Hashirama for years under the careful eye of 'The Foundation', the Snake Sannin came across a rather startling discovery. The Shodaime Hokage was a Sage in the truest meaning of the word; his chakra was almost like Harry's own.

Sometime in the leader of the Senju's life, he had begun to siphon small amounts of Natural Energy from the surrounding life around him completely subconsciously. Orochimaru was only able to notice the slight 'twang' the Shodaime's chakra contained after getting completely sloshed and pushing his own chakra into a pitri dish that contained the cells of the fallen Kage much to the white snakes' embarrassment. After a few months of experimenting, Orochimaru made a breakthrough that would completely redefine certain branches of Jutsu completely.

The Shodaime's Mokuton style was half Doton, one quarter Suiton and one quarter Senjutsu which would give the wooden constructs life. More earth than water and the technique had amazing strength and size, reverse it and you get much more flexibility and speed.

Orochimaru and thus Harry and Voldemort used the second method more so than the first, though Orochimaru did not have the advantage Harry, Hashirama and Tom had despite the Snakes many experiments. Harry thought that the answer was obvious after thinking about it, but if there was one thing Shinobi of the Elemental Nations and the Wizards of this world that was similar, it was their lack of logic.

After hours of explaining chakra theory and the many uses for the energy, both Harry and Sirius were tired of speaking on the subject. The two continued to talk on multiple other subjects, from Harry's ongoing projects to Sirius's many stories of pranking people at Hogwarts with James, Remus, Peter and himself.

"You know, I have not had a headache this bad since I got chewed out by McGonagall for vanishing her panties in the middle of her end of the year announcements! I don't know whether to be pissed that you can out-teach me or proud." Sirius admitted with a chuckle before yawning heavily.

Harry smiled at the man's admission before wandlessly summoning an energizing draught mixed with a powerful pain reliever. "Here, it will help with the headache. Do you want to stay here tonight?"

Sirius nodded his head after downing the potion, only to stop after a second and stare at the bottle. "Is everything alright?" Harry asked in concern at seeing the man's rather serious expression. 'There is NO way I could have messed that potion up, it's a personal creation of mine!'

Sirius continued to stare at the bottle for a second before looking at Harry with the straightest face he could manage. "Are you sure that was a potion?"

Harry was about to freak out before the man spoke up again, stopping the young child from running into his potion room to grab a bezoar. "I'm just pulling your leg Harry, that has to have been the best tasting potion I've ever had in my life! What is your secret?!"

Harry couldn't stop himself from adopting a deadpan expression at the man's proclamations, silently swearing that the man was going to be thoroughly pranked sometime in the morning. A few minutes later and Harry led Sirius to a spare room in the completely renovated Chapel so that the man could rest after the many revelations of the day.

"Do you remember me telling you that you would think differently of Voldemort before this night was over?" Harry questioned while staring Sirius in the eyes, emerald green probing deeply into the icy grey.

"Yes, I do remember, but I have yet to see or hear anything that would change my opinion of him?" Sirius trailed off, leaving his sentence as more of a question than a statement. Harry sighed before looking to the floor for a moment, as if deep in thought.

In truth, Harry was, but not for the reasons one would think. Could he trust Sirius? Could Tom and Harry really reveal themselves to the man without having to resort to violent measures to make sure the man wouldn't draw attention to them in the magical world.

Taking a deep breath, Harry took a veritable leap of faith.

"Voldemort isn't the mad man Dumbledore has made him out to be. He wasn't even responsible for a quarter of the attacks on the muggle world during the first war." Harry finally responded to the mans unasked questions.

Sirius stared at the boy long and hard before motioning for him to continue. Harry smirked and looked over Sirius's shoulders with a firm gaze. Sirius took that as Harry telling him to turn around, so he did.

Standing in the doorway, much to Sirius's shock, was Voldemort himself. Much like Harry, he too wore something reminiscent of what one would see on a Shinobi, though the wizardry custom was too far ingrained into the reembodied Dark Lord for him to ever deign to wear sandles.

Medium length black hair was swept cleanly into a hairstyle reminisce of how he wore it in his youth. Piercing crimson eyes with the same markings as Harry's surrounded his eyes, though black in color as opposed to purple.

Long black robes that churned and waved into itself as if smoke covered the mans body with silver markings present floating within the fabric. An exquisite suit of what Sirius thought was acromantula silk gripped the mans frame in all of the right places, leaving a bit to the imagination for the many young and old witches that would surely swoon over the man when sighted.

A pair of pointed black dragon-skin boots rested over the mans feet, though Sirius could sense the silencing spells firmly placed on the footwear to muffle his footsteps.

Over all, Voldemort was much more imposing but at the same time less terrifying than he was the last time Sirius ran into him on the battlefield during the final battles before the deaths of the Potters.

"Greetings, Lord Black, and welcome to Harry's and my home." Voldemort greeted cordially, inclining his head in Sirius's direction. After throwing a few stones onto the ground before Sirius and Harry, the Dark Lord transfigured two chairs for Harry and Himself while Sirius sat heavily down on the bed made available for him. After all, three men of high standing shouldn't share a bed even if only sitting.

"Hello to you, Voldemort... how is it you are here?" Sirius finally gathered his nerves to question, not daring look the man in the eyes while he asked. Voldemort tilted his head as if considering the question before answering in an even tone. "Your godson not only summoned me, but provided me the means of having a body."

Sirius snapped his head towards the young Potter, who only shrugged his shoulders while grinning. "I have... memories left over from the incident that Halloween night years ago. Voldemort is not the man Dumbledore makes him out to be."

"So you just summon his spirit and give him a body? He killed your parents, my best friends in cold blood!" Sirius shouted, standing from the overly comfortable bed provided to him by Harry. Voldemort and Harry shared a look before Harry responded carefully.

"The entire war was waged against Voldemort because he sought to usurp Dumbledore and his crones at the Ministry, because he wanted to create a government that was fair to those entering the magic world from abusing or muggle homes!" Harry slowly gained passion to his voice as he spoke, as if speaking to a crowd instead of just one man.

"Every muggle 'raid' that the 'Death Eaters' supposedly took part in were not carried out by Voldemort or his people! The Dark Lord was set up to take the fall for actions he never sanctioned!" The young Potter ranted while his chakra sprang to life around him. Phantasmal snakes of silverish white energy sprang from the aura surrounding Harry before slithering out of sight after they made contact with the floor.

Sirius sat down heavily and stared at the two with a more understanding glint in his eyes. "Tell me everything."

The young Sage was sure that tomorrow was going to be a very long day if tonight's operation was to go off without hitch. These next few hours however was a time to befriend his godfather.

=+FoStA+=

Auror McDaniels was not a happy man, not in the least. "I'm sick of being stuck on THIS DAMN ISLAND!" The screaming man was immediately slapped in the back of the head by his partner and told to hush up. There were hundreds of things McDaniels would rather be doing but because he and his partner Havel drew short straws they were stuck on Azkaban staring at the ceiling for a month.

Dementors did all of the work of keeping the prisoners 'calm', food was magically prepared and served to them through a bowl that would refill itself with the nutritious slop, and there was no possible way any of them could break out. It was an easy job, sure, but it was brain numbingly dull.

"Shut the hell up and go back to counting sheep you lazy asshole." Havel ground out as he stared down at the Daily Prophet. At the back of every sports section there were runic crossword puzzles every day, and Havel was officially pissed at today's edition.

"You can't connect a Sumerian Blood Rune with an Egyptian Explosion Rune you FOOLS!" Havel was a runes specialist, and even if the puzzle was for entertainment purposes, the mixing of those two families of runes only brought ill omen upon those who witnessed the unholy union.

Havel was slapped upside the head courtesy of McDaniels and promptly told to stuff his pie hole. "How about you make me, pipsqueak?" Havel growled as he rose from his sitting position and rolling up his sleeves, causing the smaller Auror to roll his eyes before drawing his wand. "You're a bloody Wizard, Havel, not a muggle. Act like it."

As the two began to attempt to kill one another, Harry was crouched upside down on the ceiling and hidden under the meseigakure technique. 'You know, I didn't think Genjutsu would work at all against wizards, but it seems to me that they work better than their supposed to. They were only supposed to argue, not fight… Maybe they do this often, then.'

Just a moment after Havel knocked McDaniels out and the extremely muscular man was unconscious on the floor next to his partner. Harry dropped from the ceiling and began to search the two man for the cell keys he was looking for. Of all the guards stationed on the Island, these two were the only ones to have keys. Thank goodness Legilimencing was still possible under invisibility, the poor guards on the ground floor had no clue their mind had been riffled through like a file cabinet.

After grabbing the universal cell keys and the two unconscious men's wands, Harry slipped out of the room and sprung to the ceiling where he began to walk calmly to his destination. Three patrols passed underneath the boy who didn't bother to hide himself under the invisibility due to the height of the corridors in Azkaban.

It took an hour for Harry to make any notable progress through the elaborately build maze that made up the cell blocks and guard stations. Just as the intruder was about to give up and return another night to free the prisoner being kept there, he struck gold.

'Finally found you. And look, all three of you are close together. Fantastic.' Harry thought to himself as he dropped from the ceiling once again under the invisibility Jutsu. Two clones phased into existence beside him and retrieved a key from their creator. Harry himself stared into cell he himself would deal with while going over the many possible outcomes of the soon to occur meeting between two complete strangers.

Two pulses of chakra from each of his clones was the signal he was waiting for. The clone that took the right cell handed Harry a key before dragging an unconscious body behind him. The left clone joined the original and brother a moment later before the two disappeared back into the corridor.

'The Shadow clone technique has to be the most versatile and useful Jutsu ever created. It's a good thing I have Sage Chakra, otherwise I doubt I could even create one.'

Harry slid the key into the cell lock before sliding the barred door away from the frame. The sleeping figure in the cell awoke with a jolt at hearing the loud screeching sound of metal grinding on metal. Though shadows mostly obscured the figure, Harry was positive that this was the person he was looking for.

"W-Who are you and w-what do you want?" The obscured person finally groaned out, their voice hoarse and airy from either screaming their lungs out daily or lack of use, whichever it was eluded Harry.

"Is that how you greet the Left Hand of our Lord, Bellatrix?"

The now identified Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black slowly walked forward from the encompassing darkness, her gait extremely strained and clumsy no doubt to atrophied muscles. Her hair was a complete mess but that was to be expected.

Her dark eyes were sunken into her skull and her skin was stretched tight over her face, giving her already strong jawline far too much definition to be considered beautiful while in such bad shape. Raggedy and stained cloth was slung over the estranged Black's malnourished frame with close to the same feeling as a potato sack if its looks were anything to go by.

"Upon the age up seventeen, you were forced into an arranged marriage by your aunt to Rodolphus Lestrange. During that time you joined Voldemort's forces loyally. You loved Voldemort dearly and obeyed his every order, and with outstanding results each and every time. Your marriage to Rodolphus was loveless, however, as your heart lied solely with the Dark Lord."

Bellatrix gasped at Harry's words as she listened to him speak. "How do you know this?" She hissed and began to try and break free from the chains that bound her to her cell. Harry chuckled lowly at her question and graced her with a curt answer. "I know many things, Bellatrix. Many, many, many things that this world could not even fathom. I know that you just wanted to be shown affection, to be praised for your hard work. Now you are here, rotting away in prison where your soul is being feasted upon while you fester in your own filth." Harry stated with a sneer on his face, acting as if the thought of her rotting away in prison was disgusting to him.

If there was one thing both Tom Riddle and Orochimaru had in common that Harry capitalized on, it was their charisma and the ability to completely manipulate anyone and everyone they could. Bellatrix LeStrange was a broken woman Harry knew without a shadow of a doubt. She was fanatically loyal to those who she deems fit for her to serve, mostly due to the fact that she was almost incapable of living for herself.

"Our Lord requires his Inner Circle, all of whom I have been sent to retrieve. Would you come with me, back into the Darkness?"

Harry vanished the chains that bound her and tossed one of the procured wands at her feet. With a snap of his fingers, the vials of different liquids popped into existence, each floating directly in front of her face. "No need to answer, Beautiful, I can feel your emotions through the Dark Mark. Come, let us get you Home."


	4. Balance and Ruin

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 4, Balance and Ruin-A Sense of Purpose

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto or Harry Potter.

To Thorndsword: So sorry you dont like it, but you cant please everyone. Though, I have to say your review made little to no sense but whatever floats your boat captain.

Thanks to Mohammad Alzo for pointing out my mistake with the Amelia and Fudge mistake. In the original rendition of this story, Amelia took over as Minister, however I have changed that to suit Harry and by default Tom better.

To everyone else, such as Karthik9, Lord Mortensen, Rasdra, Kioshiushima, TheMysteriousOtaku and Kiree Takanashi, Thank you all so very much for the wonderful reviews! I love you guys! [not like that]

=+FoStA+=

'Escaping from Azkaban is almost as easy as getting into it.' Harry mused to himself as he and Bellatrix walked through the now deserted corridors of the prison island. Harry had sent shadow clones under invisibility all over the prison to draw the many patrols away from the entrance, making the escape too easy for him and his large entourage of Death Eaters. On a final thought, Harry summoned a few more squads of clones to remain behind and cause as much havoc as possible without leaving a trace as to who performed the most skilled jail break in history.

One squad of Auror's found themselves under assault from an invisible force using the tickling charm and the stinging hex interchangeably and in no particular pattern. Hominum Revelio did no good, nor did any of their Finite Incantatum's. Another squad was lifted by the back of each other their robes and hung upside down using industrial glue laced with earth chakra by edges of their underpants.

Extremely liberal use of Serpensortia and hissed instructions ensured that the next time any guards tried to use the restroom, they would be in for a wonderful surprise when they sat on the commode.

Bellatrix had hardly spoken a word after being rescued along with the Lestrange brothers. Years of isolation and torture had taken its toll on the woman's mind, though Harry had no room to speak due to having over a centuries worth of memories pertaining mostly towards inhumane subjects one way or another.

The loss of Evan Rosier at the fall of the first war was more than irritating, but Harry and Voldemort had more than a few Death Eaters to replace him should certain members of the Inner Circle not remain loyal. Shadow Clones had taken most of the other recovered members of the Dark back to Asylum One ahead of Harry himself, getting those worse off taken care of before those who still had fight left in them. While Bellatrix was in terrible shape, she was still the best off amongst all of those imprisoned in Azkaban.

Once outside of the floating prison, Harry procured a larger than normal broom for the two to ride until they passed the Anti-Apparition wards that surrounded the island. "Security is just as bad as I remember." And with that said, the two disappeared in a silent pop indicating apparition.

The pair arrived in the courtyard of Asylum One as quietly as they disappeared from Azkaban, something that impressed Bellatrix. "Silent Apparition is very hard to achieve. You are full of surprises, aren't you stranger?"

"Of course, Bella. You don't mind if I call you Bella, do you?" Harry asked as he peered at Bellatrix from the corner of his eyes. The reborn being didn't bother with a full body disguise while infiltrating Azkaban, only changing his face to match that of his late servant Kimimaro. 'Wait, what? MY late servant? Whatever, just one of those quirks that comes with overlapping souls I guess.'

"Only if you tell me exactly who you are. I don't know how I'm supposed to follow a man to safety when he won't even tell me his name." Bellatrix quipped before giggling madly at her own joke. 'Definitely a few screws loose inside this one's head.' Harry thought to himself before deciding how to proceed with telling her who he was. 'Screw it.'

"My name is Harry Potter, Left Hand of Voldemort and devourer of souls. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Bella. Continue to serve our Lord well and you will be rewarded handsomely, betray him or myself and you will die, no questions asked." Harry said as his 'face' slowly peeled away, revealing his true appearance after the transformation completely crumbled to ashes.

Bellatrix nodded as if nonplussed by his revelation. "That is all fine and well, then. Where is our Lord now?"

Harry was a bit surprised at how accepting she was of his identity but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. "He is currently further in the sanctuary, now that we have gotten most of his Inner Circle from the prison... well, I'll let him tell you himself."

The young Dark Lord and Bellatrix slowly made their way through the Asylum while waiting for her spot in the medical facilities to be opened, though the woman seemed content to cling to his arm as he showed her around the newest home for those who served Voldemort.

It was hours later that each of those from Azkaban were given health replenishing draughts that would correct any broken bones or failing organs while simultaneously easing the damage caused by extensive exposure to dementors. Medical knowledge from Orochimaru had helped stabilize those who were in the worst of the worst shape, such as Rodolphus Lestrange who was in critical condition. At the current rate that the man was fading, it was a wonder he hadn't slipped away completely yet.

'If Rodolphus is to die, the least I can do is make his death worthy of someone as loyal as he.' Harry thought to himself as he went over his mental checklist before going to sleep, somehow remorseful for the death of one of his, Voldemort's, followers. 'My mind does not quite work like Tom or Orochimaru's, so could I truly consider myself a psychopath when that is obviously no longer the case?' The young Sage thought to himself while preparing himself for bed.

'Wards, check. Kunai under my pillow, check. Silencing and locking seals, check. Bellatrix in my bed, che-'

"What the hell are you doing in my room, Bellatrix?"

=+FoStA+=

After a few minutes of arguing, Harry still wasn't able to remove Bellatrix from his room. He gave up and passed out almost immediately after under the unblinking gaze of his fellow follower of the Dark. The next morning was an affair Harry wished he could view again. 'Note to self, invest in a pensieve.'

The 'son' of prongs had laced Sirius's breakfast the next morning with a nefarious pranking potion named 'The Ball Buster'. "That was a delicious-OH GOD NO!" Harry couldn't stop himself from clutching his stomach in laughter at the more than a few pitches higher scream of Sirius once the potion took effect. The recovering Death Eaters in the medical ward heard the high pitched scream, and after being informed by Harry on what to expect earlier that day while his shadow clones made their rounds, many of them burst into hysterical laughter.

Being laughed at by your former adversaries was highly humiliating, and agitating Sirius later found out.

"Next time you scare me like you did last night and you won't get them back for a day as opposed to an hour. Once the potion wears off, can you join me in Lab fifteen?"

An hour later we find Sirius and Harry both standing over a large green cauldron, the thin liquid inside bubbling and frothing angrily as the flames cooked the ingredients down. "Okay, so what am I looking at here, Harry?"

Harry grinned at his Godfather who shivered at the action. "As sad as it is, your smile is one of the scariest things I've ever seen. Don't give me that look; just tell me what this is. Speaking of which, what was that about business that your… follower? Orochimaru was talking about?"

"We will get to that soon, I promise. This, Sirius, is something our Lord used for his werewolf forces during the first war. It's called wolfsbane due to the Aconite present in it created ten years ago by a man named Damocles. This wonderful creation completely relieves the symptoms of the Lycanthropes transformation and allows the transformed to completely control themselves under the full moon. This is my own strain of the potion, the original was far too volatile to create, and far too weak for anyone but the children werefolk."

Sirius sort of stared, sort of gawked at his godson for a moment. "Okay… do you know how much something like this is worth? And if it was invented ten years ago, why am I only hearing about this now?"

"You can blame the late and great Millicent Bagnold for that. Not a month after the potion was created it was labeled as Class-S contraband and was removed from the shelves immediately after. Damocles was arrested and put to death by Dementors kiss shortly after. I only know of it due to Voldemort having interrogated the man for the potion details before the man was killed." Harry paused for a second before grabbing a large spoon made of gold to stir the potion he and Sirius were crowding around.

"Here, this scroll contains both the original and my own version of the potion. I will be sending you a new assistant at the end of the day, and you had better behave yourself and act like an adult!" Harry practically growled the last part as he handed Sirius a large scroll tied with a purple and green ribbon, having remembered a few stories from the previous night.

Sirius just shrugged his shoulders before making a snarky remark on how he would 'think' about it depending on the person. Harry rolled his eyes before making a mental note to have a shadow clone under the meseigakure technique watch over Sirius for the next few days to make sure that he wasn't actively spying on anyone or going out of his way to torment his recovering patients.

Harry coughed before unsealing a golden key from his wrist and handing it to his Godfather. "That is the key to the new Black vaults. I had the other closed and made sure you were the ONLY person so far able to access it. The Black fortune has been restored to what it was before Albus got his hands on it. All I ask is that we work together for a few projects and to never contact Dumbledore or ever work against either myself, the Dark Lord, or any of his followers."

Sirius nodded numbly before staring at his godson with an incredulous gaze. "You know, you don't act like any eight year old I've ever met. If it wasn't for your oath, I doubt I would have believed you're Harry. You have a certain… air about you, I guess, it makes it hard to believe you're really just a kid."

Harry shrugged and just said it came with the trade. Sirius wasn't sure whether he was talking about being a Shinobi or a Dark wizard. Either was just as bad, but Sirius promised himself he would have Harry's back come Hell or high water.

Harry and Sirius continued to discuss business for a few hours before they both came to an agreement. Harry would allow Sirius to use one of the hospitals as his base of operations and Harry would be given four percent of any and every sell Sirius was to make.

All in all, it was one of the best business transactions Harry had ever made in any of his three lives, at least on the surface it was. Sure, he had granted the man far too much money for merely buying his silence, but Harry liked to think he was compassionate for an eight year old with over one hundred and twenty years worth of memories. As compassionate as someone like him could be, anyway.

=+FoStA+=

Severus Snape was THIS close to snapping. For- how many days has it been? He has been stuck in this cell for far too long. His only companion was a tall figure wearing a completely blank mask with a large hooded cloak covering the rest of his body. His captor didn't speak, didn't make a single noise. He just stared at him. The lack of noise was driving Severus mad, but more so than that the fact he couldn't carry out his orders was slowly killing him.

Harry watched from his spot directly in front of the man, his wand held steadily in his right hand while his left was held in a half tiger seal. Holding the invisibility technique and removing the custom made Imperious-like curse was a little beyond Harry at the moment which irritated the boy to no end.

For the past two weeks, Harry had slowly but surely gleaned information from the potion experts mind, but most of it was a jumbled mess. Harry was frustrated with his lack of progress with the information gathering when the answer struck him like a hammer to an anvil.

Severus Snape was under the thrall of a spell on a completely different level than the imperious curse was. Its ability to completely ensnare a person without giving away the tell-tale signs of mind control was something that a mere wizard was not capable of. 'It's beyond my current ability to cast without knowing the incantation, but I should be able to break it.'

Today was the day Harry was finally able to remove the effects of the spell, leaving Severus Snape in a completely confused stupor. "Where am I? What… what madness is this?!"

Harry dropped the invisibility Jutsu after stowing away his wand for the moment. "You are currently being held in confinement under our Lords behest, Mr. Snape. You see, two weeks ago I was strolling along Diagon Alley and to my utter surprise, the Alley was completely overrun with crimson cloaked maniacs during the Ministers speech. After I confronted the invading force head on, they were rendered unconscious or dead... mostly dead. You were the one I happened to grab for interrogation, but to my surprise-"Harry cut himself off to stare at the man directly in the eyes for a moment.

"You were under something far beyond the imperious curse in terms of power and effectiveness. I have worked for two weeks now on breaking the curse. My names Harry Potter, it's a pleasure to meet someone who was close friends with my mother, as well as a loyal servant of our Lord."

Severus's eyes shot to his forehead where the scar that marked him Voldemort's equal lay bare. "You died! The instruments in Dumbledore's office said you DIED!" Snape was sure that Harry Potter was struck from the world after hearing the reports of his living conditions and later fate at the hands of his uncle.

"The Auror's have declared you dead after reviewing the case and the subsequent disappearance of your uncle. I want a wizard's oath if you really are who you say you are."

Harry swore the oath once again to prove himself truthful about his identity before Harry brought forth his proposition.

"You too have been declared dead, and your position as a spy has been terminated. Your job at Hogwarts has been filled by Slughorn once again after Albus declared you were one of the aggressors at the attack who died at my hands. This gives you the wonderful opportunity to continue your work for the Dark Lord, who is eager to hear all you have to say."

"Surely they would have been able to identify my body if that were so?" Snape snapped as he paced the cell he was stuck in, his mind racing a mile a minute. 'This could be a chance to pursue my own career as a potions master rather than a damned spy or a glorified babysitter.' "And of course I am still devout to the cause, though I find it hard to believe you are a member of the Dark Lord's forces."

The boy summoned a shadow clone silently, so that it appeared as if the masked figure appeared out of thin air, and immediately spat a small orb of condensed Futon Chakra at it after a few seconds of concentrating his chakra. The figure was shredded into millions of pieces before the chunks disappeared much like the figure appeared. "That's why they wouldn't have identified your body."

Harry grinned for a moment before asking Snape to show him the mark. When Severus rolled his left sleeve up to reveal the mark, his eyes glanced across the skull and snake present on his forearm.

"Now watch and learn, Severus, how the death of one young boy brought about the greatest beings to walk the planes of existence." Harry stated in a dispassionate voice while activating the many different spells interwoven into the mark of those most loyal to Voldemort.

Pain erupted in Severus's body, but it was the pain of magic entering his body as opposed to shredding his muscles like he had been sure was to happen. Memories flashed in his minds eye, memories that were sure to drive him insane.

In that instance, Severus Snape knew what it was like to be Harry Potter.

He knew what it was like to feel sorrow and anger so deep that even a god could drown in it.

=+FoStA+=

The next two years passed in a blur to Harry, who had stayed busy doing one thing or another. Together with Bellatrix and Tom, Harry was able to begin researching the bloodlines of the Magical world and study his own DNA where he found a surprise.

During the transformation due to Kamui, Sasuke's DNA was transposed onto his own just like Orochimaru's had. After pushing chakra to his eyes to confirm it, Harry was proud to announce that he had one upped 'Himself' once again.

Harry's Sharingan and by default Voldemort's was not like the original, though. Since it was transformed along with him, the uses of the eyes were like the original for the most part but not completely. Instead of being able to see the chakra network alone, he was also allowed to view how one was molding magic and thus know what spell was coming before the opposing force could cast it.

The coveted bloodline gave him an almost eidetic memory and much greater reflexes, though the ability to copy everything he saw was not present in his new bloodline limit.

Using Legilimency probes and casting Genjutsu through eye contact was child's play, but the ability to cast spells using his eyes as if they were a wand was the greatest ability yet.

Research into new Mokuton creations using magical plants as a base instead of mundane was gloriously profitable. New breeds of plants of all sorts now lay scattered across the courtyard and beyond, filling the once abandoned hospital center with a new spark of life.

Trees capable of producing extremely nutritious fruits year round and in abundant supply were one of Harry's favorite creations so far, right outside of his new pet snake.

The wards surrounding Asylum One were expanded to stretch four miles out instead of just one and the land under the Dark's control had been rendered Unplottable by Voldemort and Harry together.

The use of Fidelius was moot thanks to the Senbonzakura trees that surrounded the perimeter, though a much more powerful Notice-me-not charm was used much like the one Hogwarts was currently under.

The monolith used to tie the wards in was much taller than the Obelisks were, but the capable output of energy was dramatically increased. Asylum one was now roughly the size of Otogakure, but the expansion of the hidden base had to be put on halt due to the city of Epsom using the rest of the area around.

After going through a list of magical serpents in a desire to create his own familiar, Harry finally acquired the perfect specimen. A seven foot long Runespoor was procured by Sirius after the man sent back information about the species while he was on a business trip to Africa.

The snake was a beautiful specimen to behold and even greater to enhance with his scientific prowess. The black and orange scales that were common on the snake were now replaced with white and green stripes.

Its once three pairs of fiery red eyes were changed to a strange green that seemed to glow in the dark and had the infamous sage markings around its eyes due to the Senjutsu chakra that was running through its forcefully created Chakra Network.

The creature was named Pythia after the priestess of the oracle at Delphi for the middle snakes thousand-yard stare. Like what he assumed was his soul, the left head was the intelligent one, the middle was daydreaming all the time and the right one was just unpleasant to anyone but Harry.

The Black market was back open for business which made Sirius very happy indeed. With the chakra grown plants being in extreme abundance, the head of the Blacks took advantage of the opportunity presented and began to make many transactions across the globe.

Bellatrix was as happy as could be. Sure she was a wanted fugitive, but she was confident her masters would keep her out of any sort of trouble. She had learned the ins and outs of every lab in Asylum One, some of which were completely restricted to only her and Harry.

Her prowess with medical and research equipment and instruments had quickly grown under Harry's guidance, much faster than Kabuto's had in the Elemental Nations. Though she currently lacked the chakra coils necessary to learn Iryojutsu, her Magical healing talent more than made up for it.

Severus had been almost… pleasant to work with, but was still just about as snarky as could be. The acclaimed potions master had made many breakthroughs on the research into the Mokuton grown magical strain of plants that were being created almost weekly by Harry and Bella.

Harry was not impressed with his 'father' after learning of his treachery from Severus as well as the fact that the man was in cahoots with Albus. Hearing of how the man controlled his mother through a love potion, much like Tom's mother had controlled his father was absolutely maddening. Seeing the pensieve memories left to him by Lily in the care of Severus Snape was almost too much for the young boy. Any chances of him ever turning to the 'light', no matter how slim, were now nonexistent.

"The Potter name truly is worthless now, both in memory and monetary standings. I will eventually take another name, but for my time in Hogwarts I will keep it." Harry remarked after watching Severus's interactions with his mother in a pensieve dive.

Today was the final day of silence for the Akatsuki clan and the many Death Eaters present at Asylum One. The four members of Harry's business were all gathered in the center of the Chapel which Harry finished completely remodeling from the holy image it once had to a dark and expansive room that Harry called home. While the Akatsuki was Harry's organization, Harry still owed credence to Voldemort considering they were almost like a Father and Son should be as the years went by.

As such, Harry was recognized by the many Death Eaters present at the Asylum as the Heir of their Lord, especially so as he was named second in command over all of the Death Eaters. Thanks to this, Harry was able to keep his organization working side by side of the Death Eaters rather than merge with them, giving them their own sense of individuality.

Bellatrix, Sirius, Severus, Harry and Tom were the only ones able to accept members into the Akatsuki, while only Tom was able to accept new members into the fold of the Death Eaters.

The walls were lined with multiple banners, one of which depicted the Orochi crest, which was a three headed serpent with green eyes surrounded by the purple sage marks. The Serpent was wrapped around the world tree Yggdrasil, though only Harry, Tom and Bellatrix knew the significance behind it.

The Black family Banner was present next to the Orochi crest, which consisted of three ravens beneath a black chevron. Above the chevron was a gauntleted hand wielding a wand, representing the fact that they were a Magical family. The words '_Toujours Pur_' were written beneath the feet of the lowest raven, meaning Always Pure.

The Prince crest was the last one currently present among the mostly blank banners that made up the families owing allegiance to Akatsuki. The Prince crest consisted of two wands crossed behind a silver crown encrusted with snakes and emeralds, marking their place in the Wizardry world as one of the 'Dark' families much like the Blacks with their ravens.

The floors were of obsidian that didn't cast a single reflection of the light pouring down on it from the green and purple balls of flame that were hung suspended in the air around the expansive room.

Harry was the first to begin speaking, his voice having slightly deepened over the past two years. "So how goes the Black market? What is our estimated growth for the year?" Harry turned towards Sirius so that the man could elaborate.

"Currently, sells all around the world have skyrocketed without any trouble whatsoever, my old network of trade is running at two hundred percent efficiency compared to during the first war. Our estimated growth is around five hundred thousand galleons before the end of October, which is equivalent to twenty percent of the funds currently in the Black vaults."

"And the Akatsuki vault?" Harry asked, waving his hand for Sirius to elaborate. "It's currently five thousand percent more valuable than the Black vaults, but that is to be expected with your little… 'trouble-shooting' business."

Harry had begun small time assassination missions and protection details with Bellatrix in his spare time under the orders of Voldemort, mostly for crooked politicians in both Africa and Russia. Thanks to Sirius's rather large underground trading network, Harry was able to acquire contracts quite easily when his Godfather 'leaked' information of knowing an Assassin-for-hire.

Slowly but surely, the Akatsuki name was being noticed by both the right and wrong people, though it mattered little to the Shinobi. After all, the people he was protecting one day were his targets the next, no need to get attached to any clientele unless they had long term value.

Harry nodded before turning to Severus. "And what have you on the brewing of new potions we need? I trust you have enough ingredients to supply the experiment?" Snape curtly nodded before pulling a small vial from his sleeve, probably from the runic array created to make sealing scrolls without the use of chakra Harry had created with Bellatrix early on in her apprenticeship under him.

"This is the final product capable of completely activating the Chakra Networks of any individual whether old or young without them having to go through the same process as you. I am the only one capable of brewing it, and with my sworn oath, I can never divulge its secrets to any but you and our Lord in any form. Come by my lab later to learn the process if you so wish."

"You know, that's the most you have ever spoken without being a complete narcissistic dou-"

"Sirius, I swear if you finish that sentence I'm going to give you a lesson in humility you will never recover from." Harry snapped while flashing Sirius a bloodthirsty grin.

Sirius barked out a few laughs at Harry's threat before quipping that he was too young to win a war with the master but stopped after he felt himself being shocked. The Black looked around wildly for whatever shocked him but couldn't find a single thing.

"Back to business, is this dosage enough to work on Bellatrix and those who I supply it to if they were to consume it tonight?" Harry asked the potions expert who nodded his head in the affirmative.

"Excellent. Come Bella, it's time to make a Kunoichi out of you before we and our Lord make our grand re-entrance into the magical world." And with that, the four parted ways. Sirius began to walk towards the hospital building Harry had 'donated' to him for his base of operations in the criminal underworld.

Severus walked in silence towards his lab and was intercepted half way by an acquaintance he had made during his days as a Death Eater, someone he was sure had died for betraying the Dark Lord long ago. "Regulus?"

=+FoStA+=

One could always expect to feel a sense of danger as they walked the back alleys connected to Diagon. Knockturn was not the only hole most dark wizards could be found in, it was just the most well-known.

In the southern-most reaches of London lay an area only the shadiest of magicals dwelled. The 'Dirge' was an area Bellatrix felt at home in, her 'home away from home' so to speak. Her sister Narcissa Malfoy did not share her sentiments.

"When someone dies in the magical world, why can't they STAY dead?" Narcissa snapped as she entered the pub where 'Orochimaru' and Bellatrix were steadily nursing drinks in as to remain inconspicuous.

Harry praised his mothers work for his increased metabolism as well as the highly active Senjutsu Chakra running through his veins because Bella would have drank him under the table at the pace they were slamming them back.

"I don't remember dying. Master, did I die?" Bellatrix was highly intoxicated by this point and barely coherent. Harry shook his head in the negative before stage whispering, "No, but they could have thought you died along the way after escaping from their 'inescapable' prison." Harry drawled while eying the treacle tart not just a few feet from his right hand. After a seconds deliberation, a wandless summoning spell was all he needed before devouring the sweet treat with a content look on his face.

Narcissa stared at the strangely clothed man before snapping. "And just who are you? You don't look like any upstanding Pureblood I've ever met. Have you fallen so low as to call this man your master when your Lord is-"

"Voldemort is my lord. My master is this wonderful man here. He is far higher ranking in the Inner Circle than even your husband. You best hold your tongue before I take it!" Bellatrix hissed as she rose from her seated position with her wand in one hand and a kunai in the other.

The Malfoy's Matron eyed the weapons wearily before nodding her head stiffly. "Why have you asked me here?"

"I have a proposition for you and your husband, Narcissa. I suggest you hear it out before you lose out on a… wonderful opportunity." 'Itachi' drawled as he handed the woman a sealed scroll. "He will only be able to open the letter with a drop of his blood, which he will need to apply on the wax seal."

Bellatrix finally lowered her weapons before leaning forward to whisper in her sisters' ear. "I highly suggest you do what this man says. When it comes down to Us and the rest of magical Britain.., well… Let's just hope you do the smart thing here."

With a giggle, Bella planted a kiss on her sisters' cheek before leaning away. With a small wave of her hand, the two figures that were meeting with Narcissa were gone as if they were never there. The Malfoy stood there pondering Bellatrix's words before departing minutes after she walked in, the scroll tucked away into her purse.

=+FoStA+=

"You mean to tell me you were alive this whole time? Where were you? How did you survive?"

Harry was patient as he listened to the Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge ask rapid fire questions pertaining to his whereabouts and his condition for the past three years. Orochimaru sat in the chair to the boys left and Sirius Black to the boy's right. The Snake Sannin was a Blood Clone instead of a henge'd Harry, but Cornelius would never be able to tell the difference.

"Orochimaru here saved me from Vernon before the vile man was able to finish me off. He has been teaching me things I need to know to survive in this world unscathed and practically adopted me along with Sirius." Harry answered his questions with a single general answer and placed a powerful genjutsu on the man that would make him MUCH more agreeable to his words. Similar in effect to the Kotoatatsumaki technique that made Shisui infamous amongst the higher ranking shinobi of the Elemental Nations, though nowhere near as powerful as the compulsion able to be planted by the Mangekyou technique.

Sirius squirmed in his seat as he watched his Godson manipulate the Minister in such a way, not at all comfortable with the idea. Orochimaru was watching the man with his usual cold gaze, Sirius long ago having come to realize that Ol' Orochi and Harry were separate personalities all together and was more than disturbed when Harry officially 'created' him.

A week after delivering the message to Narcissa, Harry and Bella got to work in the lab so that once Harry started Hogwarts, 'Orochimaru no Akatsuki' would still be around doing Harry's and Voldemort's bidding as the growing boy was away at school. It was only thanks to the mixture of Chakra, Magic and Technology that the Sannin was born to the world. Now there were technically three Harry Potter's running around, even if they didn't look or act anything alike.

"Of course, Orochimaru here has a thing about saving people, doesn't he?" Fudge asked smugly as he smiled at the aforementioned man. The Sage merely nodded at the man who wasn't fazed by his lack of reaction. Sirius coughed into his hand to draw attention to himself for a moment.

"Do you think you could revoke his Death Certificate? Or how can he go about that?" the Black asked as he tore his eyes away from the ever-stoic Sannin. 'Why did Harry have to even make this creep?'

Cornelius nodded his head after pondering the question for a few moments. "It should be possible. If we revoke the Death Certificate, you should reappear on the Hogwarts rosters. There was an incident a few years ago where a muggle-born drowned and was immediately given CPR. The boy had disappeared and reappeared on the rosters while the headmaster was viewing it, so your name should already be present. I'll revoke the Certificate tonight, discreetly of course."

Harry smiled before nodding his head in thanks to the man. "Thank you very much Minister, I hope you have a wonderful day. You don't mind if we keep my non-death under wraps until I get to Hogwarts, do you?"

Cornelius fumbled with his ever present green bowler hat before smiling brightly at the boy and telling the boy that his lips were sealed before the three visitors departed from the easily manipulated mans office and made their way to the Apparition point. A few moments after the group left, Fudges's secretary began to scribble a note before rushing off to the owlry. Her 'master' was not going to be pleased by the news.

The young woman was alone in the corridor when she completely disappeared without a trace. This would be the first of many 'purges' of the Ministry, though it was not an internal affair like the ignorant masses would come to think.

=+FoStA+=

Chapter 4 End

A/N: Don't make me beg now, tell me what you think!


	5. Standing on the Precipice

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 5, Standing on the Precipice

I do not own ANYTHING related to Naruto or Harry Potter

Huge thanks to everyone and anyone who reviewed so far! It means a lot to me!

The following chapter has been heavily edited since the original chapter is where the story line diverged the most.

=+FoStA+=

If one was to ask Harry what he expected to do for the last few months before he began Hogwarts, he would answer 'Getting ready for School.' But what he was doing was completely different.

Harry found himself in Poland on the day of July 4th overlooking the large gathering in Warsaw. Today was the day the Parliamentary Elections would be held and for the first time in decades, a non-communist party would be taking power without doubt. His target was standing atop a raised stage with two others, a male and female who looked to be in their elderly years.

Harry wasn't there to watch the election; he was there to crash the elections. At the distance of five miles away from his target, one wouldn't expect any type of rifle to hit its target on the first shot, but this rifle was special.

After training himself thoroughly in the use of modern firearms, Harry came to the realization that dodging bullets was almost impossible if he didn't have a form of cover or use of Doton techniques. If HE couldn't dodge a bullet, then he doubted ANYONE could dodge a bullet.

The PSG1 sniper rifle was nothing to sneeze at by itself, it being the height of German engineering, but enhanced by Chakra Alloy and compression seals designed to siphon Chakra directly from Harry and utilize it as both Ammunition and the ignition source and it was a completely different monster all together.

The seals that lined the inside and outside of the barrel were designed to completely silence the rail of Futon Chakra that could be fired in a single or burst shot, the 'rail' capable of traveling up to twenty five thousand feet before losing its effectiveness. The recoil from the weapon was completely removed, making the handling of the weapon far better than any other on the market.

Thanks to the discovery of a new talent in Harry's Sharingan knock-off, he was able to 'zoom in' so to speak on anything within his line of sight exponentially. Sure he couldn't copy everything he saw, but it's the little things that make him happy.

Bellatrix was crouched next to the prone figure of Harry with a pair of enhanced Omnoculars to her face, calling out coordinated to Harry in coded phrases created by the two of them.

"Alright Bella, be ready to apparate us out of here the moment we confirm he's down."

After a brief countdown, orbs of green light began to gather around the barrel of the PSG1 and travel down into the gun to condense into a rail. Three seconds later and a small beam erupted from the rifle and disappeared from sight almost instantly.

"Got him AND the guy standing next to him! The President of the United States won't be making it home tonight. Good shot master!"

After sealing the rifle away into his left wrist, Bellatrix latched onto Harry's arm and the two disappeared in a silent pop, Bellatrix having trained tirelessly to be able to quietly apparate like her master and her Lord.

By that evening, James Danforth Quayle, who was under a genjutsu much like Minister Fudge, would be introduced as the 45th President of the United States, and Harry would be half a billion dollars richer than he was before he pulled the trigger. "Politics is a killer business, wouldn't you agree Bella?"

The demented woman giggled at Harry's terrible joke before quipping her own. "Oh yes, too many years in and you just lose your head!"

The two continued to laugh at the jokes as they wandered the streets of Washington, D.C. where the news of George Bush Seniors' untimely demise has just reached the Capital.

The two disguised individuals made their way to the Colonies Gringotts that was located two miles north of the White House in one of America's biggest magical communities.

Babylonia was a large covenant of neutral and dark wizards unlike Diagon Alley which was a more light oriented area, though America has always been famous to the blood thirsty mages that it churns out every decade or so.

By the time they had returned from meeting the squib who acted as a middle man at the Gringotts bank, a large crowd had gathered outside of the White House. The official speaker had made the official announcement to the crowd and many gathered news stations of the president's demise.

Harry and Bellatrix nodded to each other before disappearing back into the crowd where they apparated back to Asylum One to give the good news. That evening they would have to make a trip to the USSR to take care of loose ends there and watch as the world tears itself apart.

To make things a little interesting, Harry left behind incriminating evidence that would put the watchful eyes of America and its multiple alphabet-soup agencies on Russia as the culprit behind the assassination as opposed to it having been an inside job.

It wasn't part of the deal with Mr. President, but that didn't matter in the least. It was time to initiate one of Harry's larger operations.

=+FoStA+=

Queen Elizabeth II was a very paranoid woman. After hearing the news of the US Presidents as well as the would-be polish Ministers assassination at the Polish election with Russian involvement, despite what the USSR says otherwise, the Monarch was sure another World War was brewing.

The tension between the two countries could be felt easily by the countries that the second war was fought on, and England was not looking forward to being in the middle of the conflict. Lines were being drawn in the sand, and Elizabeth was sure that once again the Ally nations would be convening soon.

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry to bother you, but I have some pressing news that needs your attention. The President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Sergeyevich was assassinated twenty minutes ago and the KGB agents at the scene of the crime say that there was not enough evidence to track the assassin."

Tears welled up in the Queens eyes when she heard the terrible news and held her head in her hands. "Bring me the Prime Minister and the Minister for Magic; I fear that the time to act is now."

The servant to the monarch nodded and left at once with an anxious gait. 'This is not good at all. If the Western Empire really did strike back at Russia, we might see more than just war as a result.'

Queen Elizabeth stared out of her window and watched as the sun began to set on the horizon. The sphere of light in the sky was shining an ominous shade of red and looked as if blood was spilled across the sky.

By the time the Prime Minister had arrived at Buckingham Palace, all of England was on mandatory lock down and the entire military was ordered to return home post-haste. The many English bases around the world were left with Skeleton crews and a few high ranking officers, letting no one in or out.

The Emissaries were on high alert as the world descended into madness. Reports of military movement off of the west coast of the United States started pouring in an hour into the meeting between the Monarch and democratically elected Minister.

As the Gears of War began turning, the Queen began to make preparations to break away from NATO and the EU. The Minister's and the Monarch of England planned for hours on what they were to do in light of the two deaths. "I can not, in good faith, stand against our allies in America. The Russians will just have to deal with it as they always have."

=+FoStA+=

The magical world was feeling the effects of the growing tension across the world after the double assassination. People were murmuring in fear of being drawn into the war like Grindlewald pulled them into the Second Great War.

Cornelius Fudge was nervous but for completely different reasons. The man could remember the stories of the terrible weapons used on Japan during the world war, and if the Colonies and the Soviets didn't stop the massive fighting in the Pacific Ocean, Fudge feared that they would start launching ICBM's after the naval dogfight ceased.

The Wizengamot was in full attendance as the families gathered to listen to the verdict of the day's events from the Minister for Magic who had met with the Queen and Prime Minister that evening as the news of Mikhail Gorbachev's demise at the hands of the still unknown assailants, though the public opinion is that it was retaliation from the Americans.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have some very grim news for us. Due to the double assassination today, the United States and Russia have declared open war. As you know, mundane England has been allied with the West since the end of the second war. Due to the retaliation of their leader's death, Her Majesty the Queen along with the muggle Prime Minister and I have decided to continue our alliance with the western colonies as we have since the fall of the Second World War. Her Majesty has asked for our help to stabilize the mundane economies with any Gold we have to spare. Within the next two weeks, our Mundane and Magical countries will be locking ourselves away from the rest of the world outside of friends until this conflict ends. That is all."

Dumbledore sat upon his seat lazily as he watched the patres familias and ladies of the houses panic at the news as though he was above such worrying. "If there are no other pressing matters, this meeting is adjourned. The 5629th Wizengamot session will commence in the morning at six."

With that the headmaster departed from the chambers and made his way to the apparition point, his mind going through every possible scenario of the war between East and West. With rumors of demons and dark creatures being summoned and a wide-spread criminal empire on the rise, Albus was worried about the future of 'his' country.

Once back at Hogwarts, the manipulative man sat back in his office and pulled out a bottle of half-drank fire whiskey and immediately began to drink from the bottle. The past few years since his latest pet project died at the hands of his family have been unkind to the twinkly eyed man.

Minerva was slowly beginning to show signs of manipulations and Dumbledore was scared to keep her under for much longer, least they end up like Frank and Alice had after he had them under his control for too long. Dumbledore couldn't quite afford to replace his deputy headmistress, nor could he afford to lose control of one of his most valuable pawns.

'The paperwork isn't going to do itself, after all.' Albus thought to himself as he rose from his chair and pulled down a candelabrum that was to the right of his fireplace.

The wall behind it opened up to reveal a portrait of a sleeping man, the sound of snoring reaching Albus's ears as he attempted to wake the magical copy of his imprisoned friend and lover.

"Gellert. I have some terrible news, please wake up."

The portrait stirred for a moment before the sleeping man awoke; looking as though it was the first time he had awoken in years.

"Albus, it's been too long since you've last spoken with me. How goes the overthrowing the English Government?"

"It has been a long, arduous purpose. I find it harder and harder to masquerade as the 'Light Lord' as the years go on. Harry Potter has died and with that, my goal is only opposed by one more major obstacle. America and the USSR have begun open conflict due to a string of assassinations from this morning to this afternoon. Boris Yeltsin has succeeded Mikhail as 'president' of the soviet states, so the puppet government yourself and I installed is going to begin crumbling in a matter of days."

Gellert's portrait looked saddened at the revelation before shrugging his shoulders. "As long as you keep me imprisoned in Nurmengard, you know there is nothing I can do to help."

"If I were to release you this soon, the world would be on my heels like the hounds of Hell. It's too soon to tip my hand due to another conflict between the two empires." Dumbledore sighed as he took another long swig from his bottle.

"You know you can't kill this body off too soon, I am still in the prototype stages of our major project. The final products should be able to be occupied within the next three years. Do you think you can hold out until then?"

Albus nodded before rubbing his right arm where black marks had begun to spread from his hand. 'The wand still won't accept me as its rightful master. Just who owns it now that it has rejected me?'

"I should be able to manage. The pain is getting worse, but Slughorn makes me most delightful painkiller potions I've ever tasted. I'm glad Snape died in the 'Potters Day Massacre', Slughorn has always been so wonderful to talk to."

Gellert Grindlewald rolled his eyes before flipping Albus off. "You know I'm the only man you're allowed to Love."

The long term relationship between the two was a well-kept secret after their rather public 'fall out' no thanks to Albus's brother Aberforth and his only sister.

"Of course dear, but you know I get lonely without you here with me. How goes our other experiment?"

"The Longbottom boy? Completely under our thrall, he should make a fine replacement for your boy-who-lived. He has turned into an extremely arrogant child, but is still able to be molded into your 'Golden-Boy' like Harry was to become."

"Arrogant, hm? Perfect. And he will make Gryffindor, correct? Can't have another Tom Riddle Jr. on our hands, you can only play chess with so many people at once. Alright Gellert, I'm going to rest these old bones. I love you, sleep well dear."

Gellert smiled at the man before telling him to do likewise as the wall covering his two-way portrait began to close.

"Too much is spiraling out of control. What to do, what to do."

=+FoStA+=

The city of Epsom was completely deserted by the time Harry and Bellatrix returned to Asylum One. The Prime Minister had set a mandatory curfew for the entire United Kingdom and this city was no exception. From the Horizon, Harry watched as warplanes flew in formation in a show of 'power'.

Sirius was extremely upset that Harry had assassinated the two presidents, but it was his fault for telling Harry about the large contract that needed to be fulfilled. "Think of it like this, Sirius, your business booms when there is war, so be grateful."

Sirius bit back a scathing remark due to the look in Harry's eyes. "You do know that only works when it's MAGICALS at war, right? What possessed you to even do such a thing?!"

Harry let out a barking laugh before wiping his eyes of faux-tears. "You do realize that the Colonies and the Czarian Warlocks are going to get involved as well, right? The Hitwizards are being withdrawn from the Middle East and are to patrol our streets again like they did during World War Two."

"You mean those Assholes who detained me after I was framed for murdering those Muggles?" Sirius questioned as he sat down a stack of Papers on Orochimaru's desk. The Sannin was currently in the USSR to impersonate and infiltrate the KGB and drain their assets to an offshore bank where it would be further rerouted through hundreds of banks before returning to the Akatsuki Gringotts vault.

"That's correct. If the Auror's are our Police, the Hitwizards can be described as our Military." Harry explained as his shuffled through the paperwork necessary to run an international criminal empire. Voldemort had agreed to take the back seat on this project and leave most of the work behind the Akatsuki to Harry, thus allowing the young man enough maneuvering room to manipulate a chess game with the world as his pieces.

Of course, Voldemort also was rather busy as of lately dealing with his own Dark Army, but such was the life of a Dark Lord.

Sirius sat in the seat from in front of Harry and laid his head in his hands. "Harry, if they can't be used on the ground, how did they arrest me?"

"I think it was a rogue force under the control of Dumbledore. What color robes were they wearing?" Harry asked as he continued to leaf through the paperwork. "I believe they were black and red, why?"

"Well, they don't wear colored robes period. They wear camouflage robes. You should have learned that in Hogwarts, Sirius. You must have skipped that day or spent it scrubbing McGonagall's office or something. Anyways, you are going to need to be a bit more subtle about your transactions due to international tensions, the police forces of the world are going to be out in full force."

Sirius nodded slowly and pulled out his silver flask before taking a long drag from it. He grimaced as the liquid rolled down his throat and let out a harsh cough afterwards. "Why must you always make things so difficult for me, Harry? You were supposed to grow up to be such a nice boy…"

Harry stared at his godfather for a moment, weighing each response that came to his mind before settling on the least bitter sounding. "I have no need of being a 'nice boy' as you put it. I am simply a product of manipulations, and trust me; the world will reap what they sew. And Sirius, Don't ever question my motives again. My machinations are my own and if they ever concern you, I will let you know."

=+FoStA+=

Malfoy Manor was of exquisite taste with sound architecture and lush colors. Shades of green and silver lined the walls of the study Harry found himself in two weeks before the start of his first term. His Hogwarts letter had arrived on his eleventh birthday and the shopping was completed the next day, giving him the highest quality materials he could get his hands on.

"So, Mister Orochimaru, what is it you hope to achieve with… this decision? Surely you know what you are asking of me and my family?" Lucius drawled as he swirled the glass of red wine in his hand lazily. The blond man refused to make eye contact with the 'Sharingan' wielder, most likely a habit he picked up from dealing with Dumbledore and Tommy for so long.

"Just as the letter says I hope to achieve. I have been made Second-In-Command for all of the Death Eater forces, did you really think our Lord would let a member of his Inner Circle just do as they please?" Harry asked with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

Lucius paled noticably before hastily trying to correct his words. "I- My apologies, but why hasn't my Lord called for me himself?" The Patriarch for the Malfoy family questioned with much dubiousness in his voice.

With a wave of his hand, a silent and wandless crucio was cast on the man, who fell into a twitching mess on the floor. While no where near as potent as Harry could have made it, it was enough for the man to stop questioning his betters and just play along with whatever Harry was doing.

"Now, you were a Slytherin Lucius, use the brain spacing apart your ears... or is that just empty space?" Harry questioned while slowly raising from his seated position. With another wave of his hand, the Cruciatus spell was ended, thus stopping Malfoy senior to continue to lash about on his floor.

Harry leaned down before whispering silkily in the mans ear. "Our Lord will be summoning you all soon, and punishment will be given by him personally for those many years he spent as a specter."

Bellatrix clapped her hand giddily at seeing the man her sister married in pain before reminding herself that she shouldn't enjoy torture she didn't cause. It spoiled the taste of domination for the others.

Harry brushed his hands on his robes as if they were filthy before leaving another letter and a potion on the mans table stand. A small parcel was placed directly next to the bottle containing the strange golden liquid, though Lucius was unaware of what the potion could be used for.

A silent pop later and the two messengers of the Dark Lord disappeared, leaving Lucius alone to struggle back to his chair. Eying the potion and package suspiciously, the elder Malfoy began casting diagnostic charms on all that Harry left before sighing in relief.

Not a single one of the objects was cursed, but that didn't mean the man was off Scott free. A few more charms later and Malfoy finally relaxed, having doubled his usual spells to check for runic arrays, hieroglyphs or any other form of written magic, only to turn up none.

With shaking hands, Lucius grabbed the letter first before slicing the tip of his index finger on his letter opener, letting only a single drop of blood fall on the wax seal before wandlessly casting an easy healing spell to stop the bleeding.

After five minutes or so of staring at the letter, Lucius let the letter drop while his eyes stared into the distance hauntingly.

=+FoStA+=

The last day before leaving for Kings Cross Station was spend preparing himself for the coming travesty that was sure to befall him. There has yet to be a year at Hogwarts since Dumbledores ascendance to Headmaster that something dramatic and consequential hasn't happened, and Harry wasn't about to bet otherwise. 'It's like the man has nothing better to do than torment children under a grandfatherly visage. It makes me sick to even think of, and I've seen some very disgusting things in my century.'

Harry was looking forward to his time at the school and away from the politics that made up his home life as of late, but at the same time was trying to justify not going all together. Dealing with immature children for months on end was not something he wanted to do, but in the name of progress, Harry would get through it. Alliances between neutral, dark and light families are not going to make themselves after all.

One thousand Kunai were stored in the boy's right wrist and two thousand shuriken in his left. A Chokuto was secured in his forearm and left as the only item in the seal for emergency situations. Explosive tags, flash tags, a few thousand senbon and a large amount of rations were sealed away as were the rest of his shinobi possessions.

With his trunk packed and his potion stores topped off, Harry was as ready for Hogwarts as the school was ready for him. Though, now that he thought about it, it wasn't a common occurrence in the wizardry world that people walked on the ceilings or used 'muggle' science as a weapon. Harry liked to think he had the upper hand, but he knew better than to assume that he had one up on Dumbledore.

The entrance to Kings Cross was extremely crowded with muggles and magicals intermixed. With keen eyes, Harry was able to spot a troop of redheads being marched along by a mother goose. The girl looked to be sullen but the rest of the gangly family was as happy as the occasion called for, especially the twins that were eyeballing everyone like they were about to start hexing randomly.

"Remember Ron; don't listen to a word your older brothers say. If you have a problem, owl me and I can give whomever the worst howler they will ever receive!" The plump woman said loudly as she tugged on her youngest sons cheeks. Harry noted how the twins carried themselves and listened in on their whispered conversation thanks to chakra-enforced hearing.

'Perfect, a pair of pranksters to help test out a few of my more childish products.' Harry thought to himself before making a note to avoid the rest of the family like the plague. The youngest named Ron was acting like too much of a brat for Harry's taste and could tell the boy lacked any tact by the look on his face.

Thanks to Meseigakure, Harry was able to slip into the train and seat himself on the ceiling of one of the empty compartments after securing his robes and place a slight charm on the door to stop all but the most adamant of children from entering.

Harry watched with his mutated Sharingan as the students congregated in the hallways and tried as hard as he could to memorize as many faces and magical signatures as he could with his close to eidetic memory. 'As thankful as I am for this ability, I really wish I had the memorization perk.'

The train started moving shortly after the students began to settle themselves and almost an hour later before he was disturbed from his meditation. A crying girl with bushy hair burst into the 'empty' compartment with her trunk in tow. The trunk was in tatters to the point of not being able to be fixed using the standard Reparo incantation taught in the first year's school books.

The crying girl sat herself down and pulled a book out of the ruined trunk before opening its pages reverently. Using his enhanced sight, Harry peered down at the title of the book as shown on the index. 'Harry Potter and the rise and fall of the Dark Lord? I knew this world loved me, but are there not laws about libel?'

The bushy haired first year began to mumble to herself. "He can't be dead. He survived a killing curse. These WIZARDS don't know what they're talking about!" She spat to herself as she continued to flip through the pages of the mostly fiction book.

Harry was beside himself when he translated the girls mumbling. 'Why does it matter if I'm alive or dead to this girl?' The girl continued to rant that her hero wouldn't abandon the magical world at the hands of a muggle, and Harry was amused at how correct the girl was. 'It seems this one has logic.'

The shinobi began to weigh the options of revealing himself to her when he came to a conclusion. Silently he dropped from the roof and removed the Meseigakure technique, though the girl didn't look up from her book to notice.

Harry coughed slightly after parting his hair a bit to expose his scar. Harry wore the same garb as when he introduced himself to Sirius, though the purple cloth was replaced for a black cloth with the Akatsuki clouds dotting it. After a flare of magic, the chilling effect that his Uwagi belt styled after a dementors cloak exhumed slowly extinguished itself, leaving just the normal atmosphere in its place.

The girl jumped at hearing Harry's light cough before her head shot up to look at the person clearing their throat. Before her was one of the most attractive boys she had ever seen, though she was a little confused when she noticed his eyes and the marking around them. Long black hair was pulled into a loose ponytail while two long locks of hair framed the boy's face, giving him an almost doll-like appearance if not for his emerald green eyes _that were slitted like a snakes!_

Her eyes traveled his face and took in his features before locking onto the lightning bolt scar. A gasp broke the relative silence as she lurched forward to get a better look at the mark that marred Harry's forehead.

"You-you… you're not dead!" The prepubescent girl shouted as she wiped the tears from her eyes, a bright blush spreading across her face. Harry smiled lightly at the girl before nodding his head. "They are going to have to try a little harder than that to get rid of me."

The girl stammered for a second before finally blurting out. "I'm Hermione Granger; it is very nice to meet you Harry! I'm a huge fan you see; when I heard the stories of the Boy-Who-Lived I bought all of the books I could find on you, you're a hero! The other kids kept making fun of me because I didn't believe that you died…" Hermione had practically broken down by this point, her voice becoming hysterical.

Harry could tell that the girl had been bullied most of her life if the way she clutched the book to her chest was any indication. Quite a few Ravenclaw students of Tom's time had the same habit, as if holding the book as a lifeline would protect them from their tormentors. Using a bit of Legilimency may have been a tad bit much, but Harry wasn't going to lose sleep over it. 'She needs a friend, obviously. She is very intelligent if her ramblings and thoughts are anything to go by…'

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Granger," Harry began as he reached out and kissed the back of her hand, "I hope we can become good friends. I'm keeping a low profile until they call my name from the roster, you see, I've been in hiding ever since I escaped my vile families and Dumbledore's clutches."

Hermione looked taken aback at Harry's words, "But Professor Dumbledore is a very good-"

"Hermione, if there is one thing I've found out since I escaped; it is that Dumbledore is NOT a very good man. He stole my money, my childhood, my family and almost my life. His manipulation brought forth not one, but TWO Dark Lords. He has much to atone for."

The bushy haired girl was silent as Harry talked and began to question him for a more elaborate answer. By the end of the train ride, she had become thoroughly disgusted with the man who abused his position of authority too much for the girl to respect. "I'll help you in any way I can, Harry; you're the first person to even take the time to talk to me…"

Harry smiled his most reassuring smile before tapping the girl on the forehead with his fore finger. "Hey, we are… friends now, don't be so down on yourself. If you're going to help me, you are going to need more confidence." The girl blushed before nodding her head meekly.

Harry told her not to be surprised if he randomly disappeared and told her that he would be right beside her the whole time. To prove his point, the boy vanished before tapping her on the shoulder though she didn't see him doing it. "How did you do THAT? The book 'Enchanting and its many uses' said that Invisibility was only able to be used on cloth weaved of either Thestral tail hair or Unicorn fur!"

"It was simply Magic, my dear. Very, very advanced magic." Harry quipped as he looked into the corridor. The passageways between compartments were being patrolled by Prefects, though the closer they got to Hogwarts the more students began to wander around. The lady pushing the trolley completely bypassed the compartment Harry and Hermione were holed up in, though Harry didn't mind in the least.

The boy unsealed two bottles of juice made from his everbearing fruit trees and ration bars before handing Hermione one of each. The two continued to talk and get to know one another before they heard the prefect in the hall call for students to get dressed in their school uniforms and for the first years to leave their trunks in the compartments.

Hermione sighed as she looked at her ruined trunk as if there was no hope. Harry rolled his sleeve up and unsealed his spare trunk from the seal towards his elbow. The great thing about the seals that Harry uses is that they were created with invisible ink and graphed into his skin, so that if he lost a chunk of flesh with a seal on it, the seal would regrow with his skin permanently.

'Science, you never fail to amuse me.' Harry thought as he watched Hermione's eyes bulge at the sight of him pulling a trunk from his sleeve. "Magic, Hermione. If you prove yourself someone worthy of my secrets, then you too might be able to do what I do." He spoke before the girl could question him too much. Harry helped his new bushy haired friend gather her belongings and cast another wandless spell, this time using permanent transfiguration to change both of them into their uniforms.

Hermione at this point just pouted and held a book close to her chest at not being able to show off her skills in magic, "Harry, where did you learn all of this? Wandless magic isn't even in Hogwarts curriculum, I would know if it was!"

The boy just shrugged his shoulders before telling her it was just one of those secrets she would have to earn his trust for. Hermione didn't seem too bothered by what he said though Harry could tell that she was mentally stuffing her foot in her mouth.

Harry disappeared once the students began to mill off the train, using his Invisibility technique and walked along the ceilings directly above Hermione. The Sage had to restrain himself from skewering a pudgy boy carrying a toad and Ron after they shoved Hermione out of their way and started calling her a 'stupid bookworm who can't accept the truth'.

The first years were guided into old wooden boats that lined the murky lake just outside of Hogwarts walls by a man Harry remembered as Rubeus Hagrid, the very man Tom had framed for releasing his Basilisk almost fifty years prior. Harry didn't bother climbing into the rickety boats and stepped onto the water, keeping himself afloat with the water-walking technique any shinobi beyond academy students knew. 'Having the ability to remain perfectly invisible has to be one of my more... abused skills as of late." Harry mused to himself while reaching out and gently placing a hand on Hermione's shoulder to keep her from panicking.

While the boy was far from the nicest being on earth, he felt like Hermione could be a kindred spirit, and a valuable warrior later in her life. Orochimaru and Tom both had a penchant for finding those with talent just yearning to be recognized, to be loved.

Harry wasn't the nicest, but he was among the most charismatic, so he could easily fake what he wasn't capable of giving fully.

Hermione looked distressed at not seeing the boy-who-lived but was confident that he wasn't a figment of her imagination. The clothing and robes she wore were of much higher quality than the ones she currently owned, thus reaffirming the boys existence in her mind. She almost jumped out of her skin the moment Harry laid his invisible hand on her shoulder, but quickly took comfort in the fact that he was still watching over her.

Harry couldn't help but smile as he watched the girl nod to herself randomly as he could probably guess at what she was thinking. After a moment of thought, Harry grinned to himself before deciding to cause some havoc.

Using suiton manipulation, the transcendent wizard summoned a small whip of water that he used to pull the pudgy boy from earlier and Ron into the water before they could realize what was happening. The students in the boats surrounding the two little menaces laughed at the two boys' plight, but the more intelligent of those among the first years immediately went on guard in case they were attacked as well.

They soon reached the underside of Hogwarts, an entrance that leads up from the dungeons if Harry's memories were correct. The students were lined up and led in by the stern woman wearing crimson robes. 'Minerva McGonagall, Transfigurations professor. Stern and overly protective of her cubs.' Harry mused as he hopped from the ground and stuck to the ceiling with one mighty leap. He followed the students as much as he could before he was forced to drop from the ceiling so that he could enter the Great Hall through the double doors.

First years poured in through the doors as the students who already attended Hogwarts for longer than a year sat at their House tables. Thousands of candles floated in mid-air, suspended by tiny threads of magic that coiled around each individual light source. Harry had to use his Sharingan to view how the magic was interacting with the environment, as no form of Mage Sight had allowed him to view the actual strands of magic and how they worked.

The first years gasped at the twinkling stars that stared down at them from the bewitched ceiling of the Great Hall, seeming as though there was no roof over their heads to protect them from the weather outside.

McGonagall called the students to attention with a sharp command, though Harry was more occupied with staring down Dumbledore for the first time through his own eyes. The twinkly eyed man was unaware of Harry's presence but the moment the hat stopped singing it would be time to play ball.

One by one student's were called up to be sorted by the enchanted headpiece. Shouts of 'Gryffindor', 'Slytherin', 'Hufflepuff' and 'Ravenclaw' echoed through the expansive room interchangeably. The students were being called in an odd order, by their first names rather than their last names.

Soon enough, it was time to reveal himself to the school and magical world beyond. "Harry Potter?" McGonagall called in dazed confusion at seeing the boy's name on the list. 'Why would a dead boy's name be on this list?' Before she could compose herself and call out the next name, a boy with long black hair literally appeared out of thin air before her.

The elderly woman stared at the boy in shock, having taken a few steps back at his eyes. 'He has the same eyes as Lily, though there is something… off about them. Is he wearing Makeup?'

Harry coughed into his hand before looking around the large room and taking in the looks on everyone's faces. "You look nothing like Harry, who are you?" Minerva finally asked as she stepped forward with the Sorting Hat clutched firmly in her hands. Harry sighed before drawing his wand.

"I, Harry James Potter, do solemnly swear I am in fact the son of James and Lily Potter and am not amongst the dead. So mote it be." Golden light erupted from his wand and circled around him before disappearing all together. "As you can see, the rumors around my death are certainly false. On another note, who are you to tell me how I should and shouldn't look?"

Murmurs began to echo throughout the chamber, a few members of the first years yet to be sorted turned and looked at Hermione due to the fact that she was the only person to say he was still alive.

"Harry... I'm so sorry for what has happened to you. How did you survive those terrible monsters?" Minerva asked as she sent scathing looks towards Dumbledore, whose face was completely drained of color and wiped blank of expression. The twinkle in his eyes were absent for the first time that Harry could recall, likely indicating the firm grip the man was maintaining over his monstrous magical reserves instead of letting it leak like normal.

"Now is not the time for that, Professor. If you would like to approach me after the sorting ceremony, we can talk then. Now then, may we proceed?" Harry stated with an icy tone after setting himself down on the intricate stool regally. Harry began to use a wide area genjutsu to make it easier for people to see him as 'untouchable', even if it was only temporarily. Harry sent a lazy look over his shoulders at the manipulative headmaster and sent a powerful reverse-legilimens probe directly into Albus's mind.

'Your days are numbered, mark my words.' The look on Dumbledores face was priceless, Harry having activated his Sharingan and hid it under a genjutsu so that he could view this memory in his pensieve over and over at his leisure.

Minerva seemed to snap from her reverie and nodded at her would-be Godson. After setting the hat down gently on his head, she took a few steps back to admire the boy she thought was dead.

'He looks absolutely nothing like his mother. Something about him seems terribly familiar, but just what is it?' Minerva asked herself as she watched the Sorting Hats face scrunch up in confusion for a moment.

Inside of Harry's head, the enchanted sorting hat was pilfering through three sets of memories and stumbling across more dark secrets and others not so much more so than he had in any other student.

'You are a very, very complicated man, aren't you Mister Potter? To have lived a life in a completely different dimension, how did you even go about that?' The hat asked as he continued to view the boys 'life' so far. 'I've already sorted you once years and years ago, but that's just not possible. Tell me, what form of Sorcery is this?'

Harry shrugged his shoulders at the hats questions before answering it in his head. 'I don't know, honestly. It was only due to my mothers' ritual and... sacrifice that I'm even alive. Can you do me a favor, Alistair?' Harry questioned as he continued to stare out at the crowd of murmuring students and shocked faces.

'How did you- never mind. You may ask, but some things I cannot do. Oh, you mean for your friend. Yes, we will see if she has the same qualities as you. There is no doubt in my mind you will either bring this world into a new age or lead it to ruin. With ambition and cunning in such large amounts, there is no other choice than-'

"Slytherin!" The hat roared as Harry's robes changed to match that of his new house mates. The green and silver crest adorned his chest and the blank tie transformed to match it. At the announcement of Harry's placement, the student and staff body went completely silent as he rose from the chair and walked calmly across the Great Hall to where he would be eating for the next seven years.

The students at the Slytherin table gave the boy a wide birth as he continued to give of the same aura as he did when he sat down. It wasn't a cold 'don't come towards me', it was more of a 'I'm on a level beyond your comprehension' kind of air.

A blond boy surrounded by two rather large and dull looking boys walked up to Harry and stuck his hand out to shake. "My name is Draco Malfoy; it's a pleasure to meet someone of such high esteem. I'm glad that you made it into this wonderful house like the rest of the best." The Malfoy began as Harry gripped his hand in a firm but friendly shake. "Harry Potter, it is nice to meet you, Draco. Come, would you like to sit with me?"

The three boys sat directly across from Harry and began to engage in small talk ranging from Quidditch to the latest and greatest brooms on the market. "My father purchased me a Nimbus 2000, but the old codger Dumbles has a strict restraint on first years bringing their own brooms."

Harry scoffed before leaning across the table as if letting him in on a secret. "Give me a week and I can have you one here, hell, I'll get the entire Slytherin house the best brooms I can if it will piss off Albus-too-many-names-Dumblydork."

Harry tuned out of the conversation for a moment once he heard Hermione's name called for sorting. He was almost positive that the girl would either end up in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, but when the sorting hat called out 'Slytherin' much like it had for him, the first years were all shocked.

"This is the first time in decades we have a 'mudblood' in our house. Pure filth, they are." Draco bit out as the girl quickly walked towards Harry. Harry scooted over and patted the seat next to him while sending an extremely concentrated blast of killing intent at Draco. "You say those words in front of me again and you will lose your tongue. Hermione is now under the protection of Akatsuki and me. I'm sure your father filled you in on his latest… business venture, correct?"

Draco paled dramatically at the words and began to sputter an apology to Hermione after looking at the ring that adorned Harry's left little finger. The ring was rather large and consisted of black steel with red clouds that indicated the red dawn etched into it. On the front of the ebony and crimson ring was a jewel with the Kanji for void, or Ku, in slate blue.

Draco was smart enough not to mess with a higher ranking member in the organization as he had only received a necklace depicting the trademark crimson cloud. The necklace would double as a distress beacon and tracking devise that his father and the leaders of Akatsuki could use to track him down or find him if he got into trouble.

"I'm very sorry; I didn't know I was speaking to such a high ranking member. It won't happen again, I promise." Draco hated, no, _loathed _having to apologize for anything, but his father had made it very clear that he was NOT to attempt to bully or make enemies with anyone bearing the rings of Akatsuki like himself. His fathers ring on the right index finger, the ring representing the color Blue, while the jewel is teal, something his father was rather proud of receiving from his most gracious Lord.

Harry nodded as he introduced Hermione to Draco, Crabbe and Goyle respectively. The bushy haired girl nodded her head to each of the three but did not speak to either of them after hearing their derogatory terms for when she approached.

"Hermione, I would have figured you for the Ravenclaw type. You do realize that Muggleborn are very seldom sorted in the house of the Snake, correct?" Harry inquired as he heard the headmaster give his silly little speech as if nothing was wrong in the world and begin the start-of-term feast.

The other Slytherin students were eyeballing the odd pair as they laughed and joked about logic and how it didn't apply to most magic while the other three tried to maintain a face of authority after being publicly cowed by his senior officer. 'I'm not going to make that mistake again. Father said that the ranking members were far more powerful than your average witch or wizard…'

"So why exactly do you think the third floor would be off limits?" Harry mused after hearing the words of warning from the codger, though he took them with a grain of salt.

Hermione and Draco shrugged their shoulders before turning to their fellow snakes to hear their opinions. Daphne Greengrass, who Harry had met personally during his visit to the Greengrass Manor with Orochimaru had shrugged her delicate shoulders before raising a graceful brow in his direction, her glacier blue eyes peering at the bushy haired female beside him.

Harry discreetly shrugged before mouthing something at the blond, whose eyes widened before she nodded her head in understanding.

Little did they know that this year would be unlike any other Hogwarts had seen in a very, very long time.


	6. Descent into the Dark

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 6, Descent into the darkened Forest

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto or Harry Potter.

To reviews: Elspeth, that was a very enlightening review. Harry WILL be kind and show his affections to those who care about him, but you have to remember that he has more memories of being Orochimaru and Voldemort than he does of being Harry at this point. As time goes on he will lighten up to his friends and comrades, but this instigation of World War is something to progress the story from beyond England. He didn't start it for shits and giggles; I'll go ahead and say that. Harry will be DARK as hell, but not evil... mostly.

A big shout out to everyone who has left wonderful reviews for this story, you have warmed my cold heart!

=+FoStA+=

The feast was of wonderful quality and the pumpkin juice was delectable. Harry, Hermione and Draco continued to make small talk after Harry reprimanded the blond boy, though the three acted as if the situation never happened.

Harry knew that Dumbledore and the rest of the entire Grand Hall were staring holes into the back of his head, but he didn't mind in the least. The looks ranged from reverence and adoration from the Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's, but his own house and Gryffindor were sending him a great deal of hatred via ocular transference.

After his sorting, McGonagall has been avoiding even looking at the child. 'Very peculiar.' Harry thought to himself in He continued to scan the professors' tables with his Sharingan, trying to see how far he must climb before standing before the Titans of the magical world on fair grounds.

Three of the heads of house were ensnared under Dumbledores thrall, though Rubeus Hagrid and Professor Flitwick were not. 'Physiological difference must be the reason. Flitwick is descendent from a Goblin, and Hagrid is a half Giant.' Harry thought to himself as he tore his gaze from the table. 'Tonight, I will retrieve the Diadem and seal it away to prevent it being captured by Dumbledore. No sense in lazing when there is so much to do.'

Crabbe, Goyle and the rest of the house ate in absolute silence though a few did glance at him every so often as if not believing he was really sitting there. Towards the end of the meal, the trio plus two were approached by fellow Slytherins, students of the same year if their gait was anything to go by.

The girl of the two was of Asian descent with dark hair, pale skin and shockingly purple eyes. Her robes were finely crafted though not of artisan quality much like his, Draco's and Hermione's. The boy had dark skin, hair and eyes though he had an air about him that spoke of his intelligence.

"Hello, Potter. My name is Yurika Haneda and this is Blaise Zabini, may we sit and speak with you for a moment?" The girl, now identified as Yurika, inquired as she eyed the unoccupied spot to Harry's left. The son of Lily nodded before beckoning them to sit in a grandiose fashion.

"Of course, Haneda-san. O genkidesu ka?" Harry asked in perfect Japanese which shocked the young girl and those sitting around Harry. "Watashi wa yoku yatte iru, Shitsumon o Arigatogozaimashita." Yurika replied after taking a sip of pumpkin juice. The girl carried herself in a way that made Harry's sixth sense of danger go off.

"You speak with a perfect accent; did you spend any time in Japan, Potter?" Zabini inquired as he bit into a sweet roll, careful not to get any icing on his robes or face as he did so. Ms. Zabini at one point had a Japanese husband who had attempted to teach Blaise the language of his homeland, but Blaise was confused by the expansive alphabet at that age and didn't see it proper to learn. The man had disappeared from the Zabinis' life so suddenly, much like the rest of his mother's husbands.

"No, it's nothing like that. I am just a very fast learner. You could say I have just as much experience speaking Japanese as I do English if not more." Harry drawled as he took small bites of the vegetable lo mein noodles that the house elves had prepared.

Discretely, Harry unsealed a single senbon needle from his inner left seal with a small pulse of chakra and stuck it to his inner arm to be accessed easily with the leaf-sticking ability academy students were taught after the leaf floating exercise.

The senbon needles were coated in a very light paralyzing agent that he himself was immune to. It useful only for getting out of sticky situations after a moments distraction as it only targeted nerve clusters associated with movement of the lower and upper limbs. The agent couldn't even be considered a poison if scrutinized under microscope or magic thanks to the trace amounts of chakra that metabolize the left over chemical quickly and disperse it via exhalation of carbon dioxide.

The group of students bought the explanation easily considering just who he was and the odds he faced. "So what did you wish to speak with me for, Haneda-san?" Harry asked after he finished his noodles and began munching on a stick of Yakitori while he awaited his answer. Watching the girl from the corner of his eyes while eating and making it look casual was a bit unnerving to Harry. 'Just who is this girl?'

"I noticed the way you carry yourself. A few members of my family have the same gait." Yurika didn't elaborate on the subject and she didn't need to. 'She must come from one of the surviving Shinobi clans of Japan. Formidable warriors indeed, even with the lack of Chakra.'

"So you noticed that. You have very keen eyes, Haneda-san, very keen eyes indeed." Harry spoke at last as he finished his meal. He turned to look his housemate in the eyes, letting her get a good view of the emerald orbs. Slitted pupils like a snakes surrounded by three tomoe stared back at Yurika, who was startled at the symbol of the Emperor imprinted on his eyes. 'We will speak on this later, girl. Midnight.' Harry sent her a brief message with his Sharingan.

Blaise was confused by the silent conversation between the two Japanese speaking students. The dark Italian boy looked at Hermione with a raised brow to which she demurely shrugged her shoulders. The Muggleborn witch tried to maintain the same image Harry had imposed upon the hundreds of people gathered in the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony, though she was only able to emulate the physicality behind it and not the genjutsu.

Dessert came and went without incident for the five, excluding Crabbe and Goyle who had shifted off towards the other end of the table when Draco sent them away at Harry's behest.

Hermione seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself with the semi-friendly banter, though had to force herself to stop regurgitating information after Harry gently nudged her during one of her rants. "We all are fascinated, truly, but don't you think this can wait until classes start?" Harry turned and asked her, his tone gentle but firm as well.

Hermione blushed fiercely and hid her face beneath her bushy hair before nodding his head meekly. "Don t be like that, Hermione, I'm not trying to scold you." Harry murmured while placing a hand on her shoulder after seeing her withdraw into the shell he had worked all night to draw her out of.

After a few more minutes, the chatter continued between the newly acquainted Slytherins, each content with the company in their presence but not as happy as Harry way.

The feast finally came to a close as the Head Boys and Girls for the four houses led their new and old students to their common rooms. In Slytherins case, Professor Slughorn cheerfully gathered the children and rallied them towards the dungeon while engaging in conversation with a few sixth years about one thing or another as the Head Girl for Slytherin house trailed dutifully behind him. As opposed to an informal approach like Severus, Slughorn was rather hands on with his students as to create connections and even manipulate those weak enough to fall for his petty words.

After whispering a fair warning to never meet the man alone to his new associates Draco and Hermione, Harry continued to pretend to be listening while the man continued to rant until they came to a staircase that would switch its positions every few minutes.

Harry walked amongst the same group he ate with as they too engaged in light conversation while they trekked through the mighty castle. "What do you suppose our schedule is going to be like, Harry?" Hermione asked as they rounded the final corner before reaching the entrance to the Slytherin common room. "I'll tell you when we get settled." Harry responded as he looked around the hall in slight adoration.

"Viper." Slughorn intoned loudly so that the rest could hear before the walls spread apart to allow the many new and old students to walk into the underwater room. The large chamber was cast in a green light thanks to the light filtering in from the windows around the room and the strange glowing orbs that adorned the ceiling.

"Welcome to your new homes, my fellow snakes! This is where you will be spending much of your time either for Homework or making friends, or if you're anything like me, alliances. We must all stand united in the face of the other three houses, and must always watch each others backs. The world does not understand us or our views, this much is true; however we know ourselves and we stand together in the face of hardship. Slytherin is for the ambitious, but do not let ambition lead you to ruin. Slytherin is for the cunning, and if each and every one of you was not cunning then you would not be here." Slughorn announced as the first years began to spread out and marvel at the beautiful room.

Green flames danced along the candelabras resting against the wall every few feet, casting an eerie glow over those who stood in the Avada Kedavra green. Off to the right of the main entrance was the strangest pit Harry had ever seen, though he quickly recognized it as the Snake Pit where students settled disputes within the house and away from prying eyes.

"My office is always open to those who seek advice or help in any situation. As Head of the Slytherin House, I am a certified potions master and knowledgeable on the… darker arts if you will. I hope that each and every one of you will one day achieve greatness, and I will do everything I can to see it happen. Have a good evening and no uncontrolled fighting, we Snakes must nest together peacefully if we are to survive."

And with that, the head of Slytherin departed through the entrance and left the students to their own devices. 'Odd, the man is usually more… sociable. Is he too under Dumbledores thrall?' Harry asked himself as he reviewed his memories of the man and how this most recent interaction raised all sorts of red flags for Harry.

Hermione seemed completely out of place as she stared out at the common room with her head slightly slumped forward. The Sage walked towards her and tapped her on the shoulder. "They said we couldn't explore the third floor, but they didn't say the seventh was off limits. Come; let me show you something truly spectacular."

After the two checked on their belongings in their resting chambers and slipping away from their other three companions, Harry having to guide Hermione through the halls lest they get lost. Harry had an advantage over most of the first years, and that's his knowledge of the ins and outs of the castle before even setting foot in it.

The bushy haired Muggleborn was flabbergasted at Harry's intimate knowledge of the school but decided not to question it. 'It must be one of those secrets he keeps.' Hermione thought to herself as they finally reached the seventh floor.

"Harry… it looks like a dead end?" The girl stated in confusion. "What is supposed to be up here?"

Harry began to pace before a blank wall, making three passes before an ornate door appeared spontaneously. Hermione bit back a gasp as Harry opened the grand carved door decorated by gold and silver and beckoned her inside.

Massive piles of different objects lay scattered about the expansive room, some in good shape and others beyond repair. Quills, trunks, beakers and other miscellaneous supplies lay scattered abroad, though glittering objects of all sorts lay obscured in the piles.

"This is the Come and Go room as the elves call it, The Room of Requirement to the Wizards and Witches. The House Elves store the junk or lost objects here from hundreds of years' worth of students. Be careful with the objects, some of them are sentient, some malicious and some benign. Do not touch anything with your bare hands, at least." Harry groused as he conjured a pair of two slim ebony gauntlets.

A quick featherlight charm later and Harry handed the two beautiful pieces of armor to Hermione for her to wear while they searched through the piles. The protective gloves reached to just before her elbow, the inside being insulated with fine silk if the feeling was anything to go by. On the back of the gauntlets was the emblem of a single red lined cloud obscuring a crimson moon. "Thank you very much for these Harry. How long will they last?" Hermione inquired as she slipped the gauntlets over her hands and securing them with straps lining the insides. "Permanently, Hermione. Conjuration is one of my specialties."

"Now, just where is that Diadem located?" Harry mused to himself as the two began to wander the room. The boy-who-endures was looking for a specific place marker left by the Heir of Slytherin, his ever vigilant eyes scanning through the magical objects and litter looking for the specific glow of a Horcrux.

After twenty minutes of searched, the two pulled a jewelry box from one of the piles and brought it to the floor instead of high in the pile. "Hermione, I'm going to need you to step back for a moment, please. This is a very, very dangerous piece of work." Harry requested as his hands lit up with the glow of purple and white chakra.

The fragment of Voldemort's soul instantly recognized the soul fragment hidden by Harry's own before it seemingly began to purr in his grip. Energy began to seep from Harry's body before he felt his fellow Horcrux begin to devour it, though it wasn't enough to drain the prodigal boy.

After a few minutes, the Diadem became red hot before it began pulsing in a flash of black and purple, something that confused Hermione who had never seen such a bright light, but at the same time something so dim.

"Harry… What was that? Why does it seem like it recognizes you?" Hermione questioned as she knelt by Harry's side and braced him from falling down. "A magic so powerful that it requires the soul to power it, Hermione. It was just one more loose end I needed to tie up, left over from my Mentor when he walked these very halls." Harry admitted in a panting tone as he sat down roughly on the ground before assuming a meditative seating. Hermione wasn't concerned until she saw pale purple and green 'flames' of light appear around the boy extending inches from his skin.

Harry breathed out deeply as he rose from his stance before placing the Diadem back in its box and stuffing it in his sleeve to seal away. The two continued to pilfer through the large piles of objects for half an hour before they decided to call it a day and return to the dungeons. They had managed to procure two enchanted daggers of small size, their blades enhanced to never rust or lose their edge and the ability to shrink or grow at the whim of the wielder. Harry didn't need the daggers and told Hermione to always keep them on her person after promising her that he would teach her to use them.

After departing from the Room of Requirement, they ran into the Defense against the Dark Arts professor, Kingsley Shacklebolt, on the fourth floor while on their way back to the dungeons to mingle with their fellow Slytherins.

"Hello, Mr. Potter, how are you doing? I am Kingsley Shacklebolt, Professor of Defense against the Dark Arts." The dark skinned man introduced himself as he bent slightly to get a better view at the much shorter children. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir. Is there something I can help you with?" Harry asked politely as Hermione stood behind the boy quietly.

If the headmaster of this school was willing to sink to such low levels and still remain in power, there was no telling with everyone else that was employed under the man. Most of what she read in Hogwarts, A History was very useful, but after being told of the man's true nature, Hermione began to question everything she read about the magical world.

"I just wanted to introduce myself to you is all. For the longest time we all thought you were dead, Mr. Potter. How did you survive and where have you been?" The tall man coaxed as he tried to lightly interrogate the boy. Harry flashed a bit of his Killing Intent at the man before leveling his cool gaze on him.

"That is none of your concern, Auror Shacklebolt. If there is no other need to commune, good day." Harry bit out as he grabbed Hermione's right arm gently and pulled her away with him. "Let us depart, Hermione, lest we forget our manners like others have."

=+FoStA+=

Long after Hermione had gone to her room to rest, Harry was still sitting in the common room directly across from the fireplace, seemingly lost in thought. His emerald and golden flecked eyes stared deeply into the flames as if they held the secrets to life itself. The sound of soft footfalls alerted Harry to Yurika's approach. "Just who or what are you, Potter?" the girl of Asian descent asked as she seated herself in the silver and green chair a few feet to his right.

"That is a question I cannot answer, for I do not know myself. I am more than meets the eyes, that much is certain. Tell me, what do you know of Shinobi?" Harry inquired without tearing his eyes from the fireplace. Yurika didn't answer for a few moments as if choosing her answer wisely.

"They are an ancient order of warriors dating back to the feudal period. Most of the clans and their knowledge were wiped out during World War Two, though a few clans still exist in between the muggle and magical Japan." The Haneda spoke up after a few moments of deliberation.

"That is correct, Haneda-san, and Incorrect at the same time." Harry vaguely noted as he rose from his sitting position. "In time, maybe I will tell you more. Until then, I have business to attend to. Goodnight, Haneda-san." And with that, Harry vanished into thin air which startled the girl greatly. 'He is of a Shinobi Clan, of that I have no doubt. I must tell father at once.' Yurika frantically thought to herself as she rushed to her chambers to write to her father.

=+FoStA+=

'The Forbidden Forest is aptly named, though it is no more intimidating than the Forest of Death.' Harry thought to himself as he jumped from branch to branch among the treetops. Nine shadow clones flew through the trees a few feet back in groups of three until the ten figures reached a point in the forest where the trees became much larger and darker in color. Harry held up his right hand in a fist, signaling the clones to come to a halt.

'At this point, I'm in the unexplored portion of the Forbidden Forest, as Tom was not even strong enough to travel through the death trap without a full squad in battle regalia.' The Shinobi mused to himself as he dropped from his position amongst the branches to the ground level.

The clones followed soon after as they began their trek through unknown territory, senses on high alert. 'It is currently three in the morning. I have the weekend away from 'classes' and only require an hour or so of sleep. That gives me ample time to explore.'

The forest had become almost unspeakably dark even with his Sharingan going at full strength. "This is getting ridiculous." Harry murmured as he unsealed the Chokuto from his left forearm and held it deftly in his left hand.

The trek continued for another ten minutes at a rapid pace before the group came to halt in front of a massive temple enshrouded by the trees. The building looked to have been centuries old and war ravaged, cracked and crumbled in some places and completely destroyed in others. Most of the stone structures littering the area around the entrance were blackened by flames of intense heat, ash and vitrified remains of knights in vicious looking armor lay scattered throughout the area.

The center structure was more of a spiraling coliseum reaching heights seen only in ancient Athens and other once thriving magical enclaves. The spiraling structure looked to have been either massively damaged or incomplete as the beautiful stone was glassed over and darkened.

The ground gave way a few feet after the trees abruptly stopped, the depths of which Harry was not eager to test. The soil that hadn't given way to the colossal hole in the earth was of the same consistency of soot, flaring up and wafting in the slight breeze before disintegrating.

The looming black trees completely blocked the view of the sky, looming higher than anything Harry had ever seen in his life, easily larger than the massive structures built of vitrified stone that sprung from the massive hole in the earth. The only way to enter the coliseum was to cross fallen pillars of unsteady stone, where statues of knights lay in the wake of the only accessible path.

'What on earth IS this place?' Harry asked himself in amazement as he opened up his link with Bellatrix, as he was more than sure Tom didn't know anything about the area either. He began to send the images seen by his eyes through the link and asked her if she knew anything about this.

'No, master, I've never seen anything like it… Where are you?' The black asked as she immediately stopped what she was doing to give her savior her full attention. The man cowering at her feet tried to scramble away at seeing her attention suddenly shift but was stuck into place as she flung a kunai absentmindedly and pinned the man to the wall.

'The Forbidden Forest, about twenty clicks in heading north. I've been seeing some very strange creatures and statues on my way in.' Harry stated as he continued to stare out at the expansive area that looks to have been glassed over.

'I don't think any have ever gone in that far into the Forest, most only are able to make it a mile or two before being consumed by the various denizens.' Bellatrix shared as she began to pace back and forth. The man had soiled himself by this point, the kunai having pinned his shirt to the wall just inches from his throat.

'Alright, thanks. I'm going to head back; I have a very bad feeling about this place. Continue on, Bellatrix.' Harry cut the link and sent out a pulse to let the clones that had started exploring know to return. Two seconds after the pulse was sent, Harry received feedback that six of his ten clones have been destroyed by the darkened suits of armor that Harry had assumed were unoccupied.

'I just HAD to assume.' Harry bit to himself as he used the Hiding like a Mole technique to travel to where the clones had assembled without obstacle. The real Harry dove out of the earth with his Chokuto already in motion to decapitate one of the Black Knights but the blade clinked off of the armor harmlessly. The boy cursed to himself as he dove back into the earth within the same movement of his expulsion, dodging three strikes that the knight unleashed in retaliation.

Harry backtracked a few feet before bursting from the earth with his Chokuto sealed away and his hands held in a prayer fashion. "Mokuton: Seeji no Seifuku! '_Subjugation of the Sage_'" Harry shouted as eight tendrils of white wood sprung from the ground and attempted to pierce the Black Knight in one attack. The knight began to glow with golden flames when the lances finally hit the armored foe, sublimating the wood with intense heat.

"Suiton: DAIBAKUFU!" three of the remaining clones at seeing the flames retaliated with one of the more common water techniques, thought the usual power was diminished greatly due to the clones having to pull the water from the ground and atmosphere.

The three spiraling blasts of water slammed into the knight and attempted to crush it with unbearable pressure, though the enemy stood strong against the crushing force. After a few seconds of being attacked with the water technique, the ebony armored swordsman shrugged off the chakra laden attack and rushed towards the nearest of the clones.

One clone was completely destroyed before the sword even hit him, a testament to the mighty force being put behind the blade. Two clones began to channel Wind Chakra through their chokuto and engaged the errant foe as Harry began to retreat.

Upon his back were two more of the Knights and to his front, eight more were approaching. The first year began to fling Kunai with explosive tags at the oncoming force, only for them to slap the knives out of the air with their swords, axes, great swords and shields the same color and ornate design as their armor.

Two clones rose from the earth and snatched the sword and shield from one of the suits of armor before flinging them in Harry's direction who deftly caught the articles or armor and sealed them within his left wrist. Using wood manipulation, Harry summoned as many 'Flaming Oak' trees as he could to surround the force of eleven, one of his more proud accomplishments since he ascended from a child to a Soldier.

The trees had a highly explosive liquid inside of their slightly hollowed trunks, capable of exploding with as much force as a bomb made of C2. The explosive liquid began to secrete from the trees and covered the oncoming suits of armor.

Harry sank into the earth and began his fasted retreat ever at seeing the overwhelming force of just one of the Knights, himself not at all able to handle eleven with any hopes of survival. The Sage summoned as many clones as he could who began to suicide bomb the knights with both Futon and Katon powered explosions, leaving massive flaming craters filled with white flames in their wake.

After twenty minutes of swimming through the earth as fast as he could, Harry returned to the surface world and laid his back against one of the massive oaken towers that sprang from the earth.

"I don't know what those… things were, but whatever they are guarding must be important." Harry breathed out as he drew in as much air as his aching lungs would let him. While he may be more powerful than the average Wizard or Shinobi, the Knights guarding the burnt coliseum were impervious to all of his attacks. 'That has to have been the most frightening thing I've ever been through.'

Harry sighed before reviewing his memories of the encounter while he rested, a few more clones springing to life from the ground to secure the perimeter while their creator recuperated from the assault.

A clone sent back a pulse of knowledge to Harry, showing him yet another temple in the massive forest, though this one was not guarded by Black Knights like the other. Harry grumbled to himself before rising from his seated position before he jumped to the treetops and made his way to the other forested temple.

While the temple was built reminisce of the coliseum, it was much more modern and far less damaged than the other. Only the wear of time and nature had affected the monument of ages past, the stone worn from water rather than fire. Harry was confident that the Knights were not present after scanning the entire area with his Sharingan, no magical signatures popped up on his 'radar'.

Harry dismissed his clones and took a moment to absorb the knowledge of the surrounding area before he began to approach the center building slowly. Illegible script was scrawled into the stone fantastically, though due his lack of knowledge on the language Harry was less than impressed.

'It's almost time for the rest of the students to wake, time to head back for now.' Harry thought to himself as he made a note of where the two temples were located and began his return to Hogwarts.

=+FoStA+=

Orochimaru sighed as he slowly sat himself down in his office in Asylum One. His mission to drain the KGB of their assets was a complete failure, having been discovered very early on in his mission by his 'squad mates'. After communicating with Bellatrix, the Sannin returned home to begin other operations necessary to create a functioning Hidden Village.

Using Doton techniques and a few Sage Arts, Orochimaru was able to make an expansive underground system much like the one Danzou had created under Konohagakure. The complex spanned beneath the escape tunnels previously dug out after Tom and Harry reinforced them as much as they could with shadow clones and industrial spells used during the creation of magical homes.

The many rooms and chambers were fitted for multiple families to live in privacy, seals adorning the wall for heat, light, water and waste disposal. The chambers were stocked full of food and water of all sorts, most of it coming from Asylum One thanks to the fruit trees that littered the expansive compound.

"Bellatrix, how is the young master doing?" Orochimaru inquired as he gently poured himself a small glass of Midori Sake. The White Snakes clone rose the dish to his lips and sipped on the slushy liquid softly, relishing as the alcoholic beverage cooled and burned his throat at the same time.

"He was in the strangest place I had ever seen earlier, let me show you." Bellatrix stated as she looked him dead in the eyes and sent him the information via Legilimency.

"Hn, that IS strange. I've never seen anything like that before." Orochimaru noted as he pondered the images pouring through his mind. "I will start researching immediately, its located in the Forbidden Forest, correct?" The Sage inquired as he finished the small dish of Midori.

Bellatrix nodded absentmindedly as she leafed through a few documents laid on the pale mans desk. "Are you certain this information is absolutely correct?" Bellatrix asked as she stared at the title of the document in her hands.

"As positive as I can be. Albus Dumbledore and one other unknown entity completely rule the USSR from the top echelons down. There is no infiltrating that place without him knowing it." Orochimaru noted as he left his office.

Bellatrix sat down in his previous position and grabbed the bottle of Midori curiously before tilting it back. She chugged the entire contents before placing the bottle back on the desk with very light blush lighting up her cheeks. "That's weaker than I expected."

=+FoStA+=

The office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts was in complete disarray as Albus continued to rant and rave to the two way portrait of his Lover Gellert Grindlewald. The desk was completely destroyed beyond mundane means of repair as were the windows and fireplace. Books and papers lay scattered throughout the room, most singed and burnt beyond magical repair. The portraits of the previous headmasters lay vacant for the first time in many years, most of the imprints of previous life having retreated to other frames to survive the wrath of the decrepit old man.

"The boy was supposed to be DEAD! EVERYTHING POINTED TO HIM BEING DEAD!" Albus continued to roar as the wand in his hand crackled with pent up energy. Sparks and light bursts of flame shot from the man's body as smoke billowed from his nose like an enraged dragons.

His once twinkling blue eyes had become a molten red and yellow, as if the orbs were made of magma itself. The white of his eyes made way to black, small cracks of glowing red spreading from the mans eye sockets and spreading throughout his face.

"Albus, calm yourself! You are losing control yet again, and you wonder why your current body is failing you!" The portrait snapped as he sent a pulse of magic through the frame at the raging headmaster. "This vessel is going to fail me no matter what, Gellert, and it gets more painful by the day! Everything is just happening at once!" The unstable Dumbledore bellowed as he send a massive burst of fire from his hands straight through the outer walls of his office, lighting up the sky in its encompassing light.

"I am going back to sleep, Albus. Contact me when you have the current situation under control. Goodnight, dear." Gellert yelled out over the man's roars as the portrait faded to black, indicating the severed connection between the two picture frames.

The students of Hogwarts would continue to gossip of the night Albus Dumbledore wrestled a dragon in his office, leaving the masses for more unlikely to approach the man.

=+FoStA+=

The next few weeks passed in a blur, Harry having already reached the top of every one of his classes easily. McGonagall was highly impressed with the boys transfiguration skills, having changed his matchstick to a needle on his first attempt, while Hermione, Daphne, Draco and Blaise did on their second try. Harry had taken to tutoring the other four students that flocked to him on the first day, something Harry was happy about in the least.

The young Sage could safely say he had friends for the first time in HIS life, something that had mellowed the boy out tremendously. Hermione and Draco were always in the boys company, though the Blond was much more silent than the Sage and the bushy haired girl. The morning he returned from the vitrified coliseum, Harry gave Hermione the sword and shield he retrieved from the knights after putting featherlight and unbreakable on the shield and an ever-sharp and unbreakable enchantment on the blade.

Hermione was delighted at the gifts as they matched the Gauntlets Harry had crafted her and gave the girl new-found confidence in herself. The sword and shields were placed in a pocket dimension on the palms of the gauntlets only accessible by Hermione herself using magic as a catalyst instead of Chakra.

True to his word, the entire Slytherin house was gifted with brand new brooms, created by both Bellatrix and Sirius, a week into Harry's first year thanks to a quick 'call' to Bellatrix. The solid black brooms were accented with the Slytherin house colors, while the straw bound to the wooden shaft glowed a haunting shade of green like the candelabras in the dungeon that fascinated Harry so. Lovingly dubbed the White Snake Alpha, where the name came from Harry wasn't sure, the brooms could easily out perform any and every broom on the market. After revealing the brooms during the first match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff had been one of Harry's prouder moments as he watched his team absolutely conquer the 'Puffs with almost no effort put in.

Professors Sprout and McGonagall were not pleased with the surprise, only for Harry to finally agree to supplying custom brooms for the other three houses at the beginning of his second year.

Using the same sealing method and metal, Lucius and Orochimaru each received a transceiver after Lucius had trained enough in chakra control to send the energy to the piece of metal without blowing his head apart.

Lucius was baffled at the power he could now wield, the signs of his happiness leaking over to his wife and child. Narcissa hasn't seen the man this happy since their seventh year in Hogwarts but she wasn't complaining. Orochimaru was as cold and cunning as ever, as he was meant to be. Bellatrix was… well, you know. Bellatrix was herself.

Harry was more alert of his surroundings than ever before as he trained himself into the ground day in and out when not in classes or socializing with his peers. All was good, but something told Harry that it wasn't bound to last.

The politics of the Slytherin house had been progressing fairly well for the boy, who was almost instantly recognized as Leader of the Snakes after a few subtle words from Draco and his close associates to the many members of the Slytherin house whose parents owed the Dark Lord their allegiance, though the Neutral families had yet to fall in line with the boy.

'All in time...' Harry thought to himself while he and Hermione worked on their homework together, a smile on each of their faces though for admittedly different reasons. Hermione was content with the time she had spent with Harry, having grown almost as dependent on the boy as she was her books, though the reincarnated Shinobi hardly seemed to care about it. The shy young girl that stepped onto Hogwarts express was vastly different than the girl sitting side by side with Harry, that much the young 'Potter' was more than certain of.

The Sage turned and shot the girl a pleased grin after she answered a question most fifth years would have a problem answering from the tops of their heads, proving to Harry that his efforts were not being wasted on the now confident girl. The Granger was not aware of the thoughts circling Harry's mind, instead taking his smile as encouragement, which it could easily double as.

'All in Time...'


	7. Ruins of a lost city

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 7; Ruins of a lost city

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto, Harry Potter or any other series I might **borrow** ideas from. Period. As in Nada, ziltch and zippo.

To everyone who reviewed, you guys are great. If you didn't review, I would have stopped writing this a while back.

To everyone else, _I FREAKING LOVE YOU GUYS_

=+FoStA+=

August and September came and went as Harry continued to tutor Hermione in swordplay and how to fight while staying in motion and was pleased to say she was Chuunin solidly in Kenjutsu and shield technique alone. She had taken to wearing her gauntlets constantly and begged Harry to make her a pair of greaves and chest plate to wear under her uniform to get used to the movement restrictions of armor.

Featherlight charms may reduce weight, but the enchantments don't make the armor more flexible after all. Hermione was shaping up very well after the many spars she and Harry have had every Friday night in the Room of Requirement. Hermione was shaping up to be one hell of a warrior, having grown confident after numerous spars with Harry.

Draco had begun to practice the mind techniques that Orochimaru and Lucius were able to create for the Malfoy's usage, mostly dealing with Illusions able to be cast with eye contact. The Blond was an adept with knives and a hunting bow, Harry having gifted the boy with the weapons and finely crafted Dragonskin armor with as many protective enchantments as Harry could cast with his not-yet mature core.

For being a pureblood of aristocratic birth and one of muggle birth, Draco and Hermione got along very well after a few subtle threats from Harry after the blond used the 'Mudblood' term again the day after the sorting ceremony. Of course, Harry was extremely crabby at having almost been decimated by Knights capable of withstanding C2 explosives and a wind enhanced chokuto, but Draco didn't know that.

Orochimaru and Bellatrix were unable to find any information about anything that deep into the Forbidden Forest, most people having only trekked 2 miles before retreating so they could live to tell about it. Tom had agreed to speak with many of his contacts on attaining some form of map or another for Harry, who was upset at the lack of information though there was nothing he could do about it besides explore it himself.

Dumbledore continued to act as if nothing was wrong in public, but as the days go on; his visage of peace was falling to pieces. The two red headed brothers of Ron were publicly dressed down by the man verbally after a rather ingenious prank that left the man tied up by his now tie-dye beard and robes during breakfast one morning.

The moment the bumbling Headmaster had sat down at the large staff table, the runic array left on a spare piece of parchment activated and released the spells simultaneously at the man. Harry felt it prudent to give the two a few books, written by himself of course, on pranking ideas and different runic arrays that will act as pranking materials for years to come. For a fee, of course, but the two Weasley's didn't seem to mind the slight debt.

Fred and George as Dumbledore and Minerva called them were scrubbing the second and fourth hallways with their toothbrushes for days after the incident, though they were whispering conspiratorially the whole time. After considering his options, Harry decided to leave an invisible clone with the two and provide them with more ideas after watching them stalk a few third year Hufflepuff's for a week before striking, each having shown foresight and planning that would aid them well in the future.

Harry was enjoying the peace for the first time in the presence of his friends, though in the hallways the boy maintained his visage of being untouchable. Harry, Hermione and Draco had become the talk of the school quickly, the trio having been named 'The Royals' from the way they carried themselves. Daphne Greengrass, Terence Higgs and Theodore Nott had become the second branch of the Royals, the second group always following close behind Harry, Draco and Hermione as if the three needed an entourage.

Blaise, Yurika and another boy by the name of Vincent Nightroad had made an unspoken agreement with Harry's rather large group to study and practice together on Saturday and Sundays in the Room of Requirements after Harry left a small note for the Haneda to find in her potions book one day after noticing the glint of a Kunai always hidden in her right sleeve.

"Hermione, stir the potion twice clockwise, sprinkle the ground parsnip and then stir clockwise three full rotations. Let it simmer for five minutes and help me prepare the newt eyes." Harry murmured as the two crowded around a cauldron, once again in double potions with the Gryffindorks as Malfoy mockingly named them.

Neville and Ron had become tight-knit and could always be seen talking to Dumbledore about one thing or another either during Dinner or after hours. The elderly man would eye Harry when he thought the boy wasn't looking, but Harry had taken to keeping squads of invisible clones stationed all around him as he moved throughout the castle, both day and night, after a few nights being spent dodging professors left and right in an attempt to get out of the castle.

When Dumbledore, Shacklebolt or any of the other professors would try to corner the boy in the hallways, he would quickly either use either earth manipulation to disappear or Meseigakure itself. 'Invisibility has to be the most USEFUL skill I know besides Shadow Clones.' Harry mused to himself as he continued to crush the eyes with the flat of his knife slowly.

The Draught of Silence was a rather handy potion and wasn't usually on the first year curriculum, but after a bit of goading from Hermione and Draco, Professor Slughorn caved and taught them the brewing process for an O.W.L.s potion for practice.

Crushed eye of Newt had a peculiar property when mixed correctly with ground parsnip and diced Dragonsweed, capable of muting the voice box completely for hours on end if the concentration of the potion was high enough. It was mostly used in ancient days to mute the screams of torture victims and later for those who had overpowered their sonorous charms.

"Alright, now continue to stir counterclockwise for sixty seconds and then stir it clockwise two rotations and stop, let it simmer for three more minutes and it will be complete." Harry called out as he continued to check over his checklist in the potion creation process.

Slughorn had been extremely distant to Harry, though it was to be expected with him under Dumbledore's thrall so completely. The signs of control were beginning to show in most of the professors, Flitwick and Hagrid excluded. 'I can't even attempt to free them any time soon; I'm not risking it while right under the man's nose. He would simply recast it and my efforts would be for naught.' Harry lamented to himself as he and Hermione bottled and labeled their potions before handing it in to the professor.

"Completely flawless, outstanding work as always Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger. You are dismissed." Slughorn absentmindedly drawled as he glanced at their potion before setting it in a box at his feet with the other potions.

Those of bad quality were usually vanished before the brewer's eyes, though it had yet to happen to Harry and Hermione as they were both too skilled in potions for such mistakes.

Harry and Hermione left the room and stood outside of the door, waiting for Draco and Pansy Parkinson to finish turning in their potion before Pansy left the three with a blank look on her face. Harry knew the look all too well and knew that in the future, he would have problems with the girl. While she was not the most rude of Slytherin, she was definitely one of the more cold members towards the boy-who-lived.

'I didn't think the Parkinson family bought into the pureblooded thought process, in fact they avoided joining either side of the war... how curious.' Harry thought to himself as the three 'Royals' made their way to the Great Hall for lunch. Slowly but surely, the Slytherin house was starting to take a shine to the boy, though its not like he had any doubts on if he would be ruling the house before his seventh year.

=+FoStA+=

Albus Dumbledore was notably absent from lunch and dinner that night, something that gave Harry an idea. It was midnight again before Harry left the dungeons under his most powerfully cast Meseigakure technique. He traveled along the ceiling of the castle and watched as Slughorn and Shacklebolt shuffled beneath him in a strange patrol pattern.

Harry was amused greatly by the minor protections on the headmasters office, only a stone gargoyle stood in his way. A quick hiding like a mole technique later and Harry had bypassed all protective barriers around the Gargoyle and wards in place to protect the 'Light Lords' office.

Harry slipped from the stone flooring just enough for his eyes to peer out around the office. Harry dipped back into the earth after confirming that while the headmaster wasn't present, the portraits were unnaturally alert to everything in the office. Using Chakra Threads, a technique Orochimaru picked up from Sasori during their partnership in Akatsuki, Harry began to pilfer everything he could from the office. Books of all sorts were covered by the invisibility technique before they were pulled from the shelves, making it seem as if they simply disappeared as opposed to being stolen.

Harry left the office after five minutes, not wanting to risk one of the previous headmasters contacting Dumbledore once his office started to empty itself. With good timing, Harry made his way to the dungeons once again with books on all sorts of Light and Dark magics sealed away on his person.

'Hermione is going to be pleased with a few of these spells, I hope.' Harry thought to himself as he rose from the earth in his own personal chambers before dressing himself in his night clothes and going to sleep for a few hours.

Albus returned to his pilfered office ten minutes after he was alerted that his belongings were vanishing, the man's eyes glowing as if they were made of magma. The man roared and once again went on a rampage after opening a link with Gellert, who rolled his eyes and listened patiently as the man described what had most recently befallen him. It was one in the morning when Dumbledore departed from his office again, this time his destination was the Forbidden Forest.

=+FoStA+=

Samhain was once again upon the world as Harry sat in his usual spot at the Slytherin table, surrounded by both his group and Yurika's. Harry calmly munched on a stick of Dango and sipped scalding hot green tea while most of the house talked amongst itself, the rest of the school loud and rambunctious thanks to the powerful magics that energized their immature cores.

Hermione was rather giddy thanks to the powerful boost of magic, though Draco was stoic as ever. Nothing really seemed to shake the boy from his cool visage and reminded Harry greatly of his 'student' Sasuke, minus the angst issues. Ever since the boy ditched Crabbe and Goyle, the Malfoy had become an outstanding student as opposed to a thug like he would have ended up like had he continued to associate with those of lower intelligence than himself.

Yukari, Blaise, Vincent and a student that recently transferred to Hogwarts from Beuxbaton sat not far from Harry's growing group, eating silently as they each chatted with one another about class and homework. After pondering it, Orochimaru sent Lucius a message for him to extend an offer to join the Akatsuki clan to the Greengrass family due to the darker disposition of the family. Thankfully, Asmodeus and Gabriel Greengrass were supporters of Voldemort and not Dumbledore, thus making them free game to recruit into Harry's exclusive criminal organization.

The family asked to give them time to think on the offer, something both Orochimaru and Harry agreed to after leaving them with a pendant so that the family could contact either of them directly once they had come to their decision.

"So, Harry, what are we going to be doing tonight?" Hermione asked seeing as it was a Friday night yet again. Normally they would spar in the Room, but due to it being a Holiday as well as Harry's parent's death day, Hermione didn't want to intrude on any private time the boy might want.

"I plan on mourning, Hermione. How about we continue our tutoring session tomorrow night?" Harry asked politely as he placed his dango skewer on the now empty tray with the other sticks he had devoured.

"Alright, Harry, sounds good to me." Hermione answered in a slightly dejected tone as she continued to chow down, though noticeably more down trodden. 'I hope he is alright… I don't know how I would deal with what he has been through.' Hermione thought forlornly as she glanced at the boy from the corner of her eyes.

Draco watched on silently as always, his piercingly blue eyes staring into the green eyes of Harry, a silent exchange letting Harry know that he was there for him if he needed him. A small smile graced the Sages face before disappearing as quickly as it came.

As soon as supper was over, Harry departed to his Chambers where he dressed himself in the nicest black robes he owned before sinking into the ground to travel outside of the anti-apparition wards placed around Hogwarts. The moment the boy was passed the wards, he dove from beneath the earth and disappeared in a loud crack. A pair of glowing purple eyes watched from behind a tree just inside of the forest of death as the boy jumped from the earth as if it were water, not even a speck of dirt on him.

'Just who are you, Potter?'

=+FoStA+=

Harry found himself wandering Godrics Hollow a few moments after departing Hogwarts, a blank look in his eyes as he peered out at the headstones of his birth parents and himself, regardless of the boy not being dead. A monument of ivory was crafted and placed behind the tombstones in the same visage as the one located in Diagon Alley, something that brought a tear to Harry's eyes. Large amounts of flowers were already laid on the graves of all assortments, though Harry didn't care. 'I'm glad they appreciate our sacrifice…'

Harry laid a single white rose on his mother's gravestone and began to talk about his life, from the moment she saved him and kept him 'whole' through the Kamui incident, his time spend with Voldemort and the many Death Eaters who called his Asylum home, and to him being sorted into Slytherin. "I have gained followers, mother, but I have also made friends. I always thought I would be alone, but just when I lost faith in humanity once again, Hermione and Draco wormed their way in and have kept me sane. I would have already started waging war on Dumbledore if not for Tom or the two of them…"

Hours ticked by for the boy though he wasn't counting them. Harry talked about anything and everything that came to mind to his deceased mother, completely neglecting the father that he had come to hate with a passion. As Harry was leaving to return to school, he thought he heard a whisper in the wind. After pausing for a second and shaking his head, the Shinobi apparated away to Hogwarts, completely missing the voice blowing in the wind.

'Be safe, my son. I love you.'

=+FoStA+=

"Hello, Orochi, how are you?" Harry asked as he popped into existence behind the man, still dressed in his mourning robes. The Pale Snake was not startled by the boys sudden appearance, considering he himself had the propensity to sneak up on people. "As fine as always, Harry. How are you?" the man calmly inquired as he sipped on his dish of Sake. "You know, are technically aren't even a year old yet, are you sure you should be drinking?" Harry stated to detract from the current conversation.

"You know this body was grown to match that of a twenty year old Shinobi, do not change the subject. Are you alright?" Orochimaru asked as he set his dish down on a large stack of paperwork which he eyed disdainfully.

"As fine as I can be on this day, and yourself?" Harry finally admitted while he too stared at the paperwork on the desk. 'Why the hell do we even NEED paperwork? Oh… right, no digital trail. I keep forgetting how adept the mundane are here with technology.'

The recreated Sage seemed to ponder the question for a minute, his eyes drifting lazily around the room while he judged thoughts on the matter. "I am coping with it. It is difficult, but nothing I cannot overcome."

Harry nodded and bid Itachi a good night as he left the Snake Sannins office to retrieve a few tomes of magics from his room. The Akatsuki founder stared around his room in slight longing before shaking his head and grabbing the books and disappearing in a pop. Bellatrix was out doing goodness knows what and Lucius and his wife were currently in the courtyard, each enjoying the others company while Lucius continued to practice the leaf sticking exercise.

"You know dear, I've been thinking… How about we give Draco another sibling?" Narcissa finally asked as she stared longingly at her husband. Lucius lost control of the leaves the moment he processed what his wife said while he whipped his head to face her. "Let us get right on it, Narcissa; there is no time to waste."

After raising from their seated position from the garden, they were unaware that they were being watched closely by Voldemort himself, who seemed to be lost in thought.

'Ah, love... how sickening.' The man spat in his mind as he left the disgusting scene behind him, trying to ignore the sinking feeling he got in his stomach when he saw the two enjoying each others company so thoroughly. 'I don't even understand why this is bothering me so much...' Tom thought to himself as he watched the scenery around him change from the strange Japanese garden that Harry was so fond of to something one would expect from a proper British wizards home.

The native fauna had been weeded out from the many plants that had been ordered to replace the mundane plant-life, leaving nothing but magical plants to surround the Asylum and beyond by just a few feet. The Dark Lord couldn't be sure, but he felt that his emotions were off ever since he had taken possession of the Blood Clone supplied to him by Harry, almost as if he could ACTUALLY feel emotion instead of just mimicking it. It was... discerning to say the least.

=+FoStA+=

Harry returned to Hogwarts to drop of the items he picked up from Asylum One before he sank back into the earth to travel to the forbidden forest once more. The vitrified coliseum may have been too well protected for him to explore, but Harry was confident that the second temple would hold no enemies that he couldn't take, considering the much closer proximity to the Forbidden Forest and not the Dark Forest as Harry had taken to calling the furthest most reaches of the wooded area.

After having a few patrols of Shadow Clones map out as much of the forest as they could, Harry was slowly building a firm understanding of each portion of the thus explored forest and detailed knowledge of their occupants. Harry dared not send a clone too far into the Dark Forest, not wanting to bring down the wrath of the charred black knights that resided around the Vitrified Coliseum, though he was able to discover another gaping valley that had a way to further trek into it without drawing their vengeful ire towards him.

The Shinobi quickly traveled to the forested temple, having already drawn his slightly chipped chokuto once the forest slightly darkened. The pillars surrounding the temple glowed in an otherworldly light unlike the first time Harry saw them, making the boy raise a brow. Along the front of the ruins laid the same script that Harry failed to translate this time, though the strange glowing symbols seemed to trigger a memory deep in Harry. 'Just what is this feeling of nostalgia?'

The Sage traveled into the Ruins after passing a few corpses webbed to the inside of the main chamber with golden web, though Harry did stop to stab the corpses just to make sure. 'You can never be sure in these parts.' Harry thought to himself in sarcasm after decapitating another desecrated body. After removing the heads from all of the webbed bodies, Harry turned a critical eye to the darkness that seemed to be beckoning him further in. The first year drew his wand with his right hand and placed his Chokuto in his left, not wanting to be cut off from his more powerful spells after seeing his Jutsu barely harm the knights.

"Lumos Maximus." The boy intoned as a large globe of light sprung from his wand and started to circle his body slowly. The golden webbing was becoming thicker as the boy walked deeper into the strange ruins, taking note of the curious carvings and architecture of the place. 'These symbols are unlike any I have ever seen, and I've studied the Mundane and Magical languages of this planet extensively.' Harry thought in bewilderment as he slowed his trek into the hidden temple after noticing a very large increase in temperature, sweat pouring from his brow in rivulets.

The large hallway gave way to a descending staircase crawling with strange spider-like creatures with four glowing orange eyes. The creatures began to hiss and click their pincers angrily as one leaped from its position towards Harry, only to be cut in half lazily by the boy.

The remaining creatures guarding the stairs began to spit small globs of what looked to be lava from their mouth towards the boy who used Kawarimi to switch himself with one of the attacking spider-things. The creature screeched as it was covered in the molten liquid and began to writhe on the ground in pain, though it got up quickly and scanned the room with its multiple glowing orbs. Harry watched in fascination as the creatures began to click their pincers together and retreat as one unit, leaving the bisected creature at Harry's feet as they scrambled away.

Harry watched as the creatures scrambled away before a pulse of chakra erupted from his feet, resulting in wooden tendrils already present throughout the passage to snap out and coil themselves around the arachnid like creatures. A moment after being surrounded by the wood, the creatures were crushed and pierced by small root-like systems that suddenly sprouted from the tendrils.

The black haired youth paused to seal away a few of the carcasses for study before continuing deep into the ruins of the ancient temple, dodging more of the strange creatures while running into a more broad variety the deeper he wandered. A few of the arachnid creatures began to emit a low hum and glow brighter than the 'lumos maximus' spell that still hung around Harry the deeper he went, though they had started ignoring the boy or outright fleeing from him when he would enter the same room as them.

Harry finally stumbled out of the long and dark corridor, finding himself in an auditorium of sorts filled with gaping holes in the ground and a massive amount of lava pouring from the ceiling and covering the left and right walls completely. Statues of a strangely robed figure, a woman if its posture was correct, stood erect around the intensely heated room, giving the whole area a strange feeling as if under constant observance.

Harry eyed the statues wearily, flaring his Sharingan to its maximum potential as he memorized the pathways of magic circulating through the carved figures. 'It is not behaving the way the Black Knights' did, but I'm not taking any chances.' Harry thought to himself as he lobbed a few explosive note covered kunai knives at one of the statues, only for it to reach out and grab the knife before returning it to Harry in a similar manner. Harry deflected the kunai at the last second with his chipped chokuto before rolling out of the way of an intense wave of flames. 'It is too hot to properly use Suiton techniques, leaving me with Doton and Futon techniques to combat this… statue. I am starting to really HATE everything in this forest.' Harry thought as the explosive notes triggered themselves, leaving massive craters that steadily filled with lava in the craters left behind.

Harry sent a spear carved of earth speeding towards the statue only for it to melt it in a wave of flames much like the knights did. After seeing one of his attacks completely neutralized, Harry sent a stone crusher curse towards the statue while chains of earth sprung from the stone floor and coiled tightly around the statue. The stone crusher curse was of an uncommon variety, Voldemort having stumbled upon it in the Dwarven ruins of Mgnoldjorn, one of the most ancient cities built by the now disgraced dwarves. The curse bounced harmlessly off of the statue, though the chains restrained the strange being easily enough after pumping a concentrated pulse of earth chakra through the cuffs and bindings.

Snakes of white wood began to slither from the ground before they too coiled around the creature, only the snakes were present to sap the statue of its potent spiritual energy. Thanks to a technique of Orochimaru's, Harry was able to sap the 'knowledge' and spiritual energy directly from an unwilling source, though there was no way of doing this without killing the victim. The technique was generally only used on captured enemy forces or Nuke-Nin, whichever Orochimaru had his hands on generally determined the victim.

The statue tried flaring up its fire magics but it was too late as the snakes completely drained the heated magic completely from the crimson crystal figurine. Harry sent a few more spears of earth towards it before determining that it was completely 'dead' and not coming back. The scientific genius proceeded to absorb the knowledge and energy from the snakes before dismissing them and sealing away the statue, confident in his new found discoveries. Harry proceeded to drain and seal away twenty of the statues before leaving the chamber to proceed with his journey into the bowels of the earth, pondering the information drained from the statues.

'Animation using a piece of your soul as an anchor? That disproves a few theories I've had, but none the less, the creator of these statues was a very talented woman indeed…'

=+FoStA+=

Bellatrix was worried about her master. She and Orochimaru had been studying the ancient histories on trying to find out anything about the deepest reaches of the forbidden forest though the research has been slow. The Sannin made the discovery of what resided at the location of Hogwarts before the castle was built, though the man was skeptical at best about what he read.

A city that had long lost its name resided on those hallowed grounds, having been built to house the 'gods' of ages long passed. Obscure legends of fire wielding titans and dragons were laid bare in the tomb, depicting the lore of an age millions of years passed, only talked of in the most ancient of magical legends. "Bellatrix, why does your family have records from this long ago and why have they not been shared or destroyed? These books aren't in the best condition, but if these stories are to be believed..."

Bellatrix shrugged as she read through the large book once more, trying to process what she was reading though was having difficulties. "I'm not sure, Orochi, my family is VERY old and have been adept with magic since before the Middle Ages, we could have had relatives that existed back then I suppose…" Bella murmured as she set the book down on her desk as she leaned back in her chair and massaged her eyes. "Master is getting himself into a load of trouble if any of this is true. I will warn him tomorrow, he is likely sleeping by now."

The Sannin nodded as he rose from his seated position, stretching slightly as he did so to relax his tightened muscles due to reading ancient lore that was barely legible for hours on end. Understand the language of the world was barely any help to the clone of Itachi as the script easily predated most written and spoken languages even from ancient times. Orochimaru left Bellatrix's office after a few more moments of speaking with the woman before going to his personal chambers.

Orochimaru passed Severus and Sirius on his way to his room, the two men locked in yet another petty argument over which country had the best economy for illicit potions while the deep agent Regulus, someone Sirius and the rest of the world had thought dead, floated behind the two with a small smile on his face. 'I hope Harry will be alright, we have a lot riding on him.' The Sage thought to himself as his eyes finally closed for rest, the spinning golden Sharingan in his eyes deactivating in his sleep to conserve his chakra.

=+FoStA+=

Harry continued to dodge for his life as he rolled out of the way of a massive black pole smashing repeatedly into the ground where he once stood. He found himself staring down a massive, faceless demonic creature after traveling deep enough past the massive chamber that contained the crimson statues. The demon was guarding the entrance to another large room, though Harry wasn't able to get a good look into the room as he was busy fighting to survive against the mighty creature.

Black leathery skin was stretched across a massive and muscular frame, though the demon was faceless and earless, giving Harry the impression that it didn't even need to see him or hear him to kill him. The demon stood at fifteen feet tall with an arm span the same length, giving it a completely unfair advantage over Harry. 'This is turning into Grade A Bull-'

Harry coated his ruined chokuto in a massive amount of Futon and Senjutsu chakra as he approached from beneath the creature for the kill. Harry leaped into the air and drew his blade from the bottom to the top of the demon, though the gash in its extremely thick skin was superficial at best.

Harry cursed as he landed roughly after being slapped out of the air by the demon away from the chamber it was protecting. After rolling a few times along the cracked and shattered ground, Harry struggled to pick himself up in time to dodge to lightning bolt that was barreling towards him at break-neck speeds.

The Sage swung his blade thrice, letting loose blades of extremely sharp wind to hopefully negate the lightning and strike at the demon. The lightning was dissipated moments before it could spear through Harry, though the creature seemed to shrug off the wind attacks. The massive demon was too large to leap at Harry thanks to the 'low' ceiling, though Harry had the bright idea of summoning as many clones as he could to bum-rush the creature.

Harry jumped from the ground and stuck himself to the ceiling in one leap as he began to draw seals all along the top half of the hallways and powering them with as much Chakra as they could hold. The fuinjutsu script shot from the ceiling after reaching maximum holding potential and wrapped around the vicious monster in a vice grip. A tendril of wood shot from the ground and wrapped itself around the monsters giant weapon before dragging it away from the seal covered demon, allowing Harry to seal the few ton object away for study. 'Kai!'

The seals began to glow an ominous purple before imploding on themselves in a chain reaction, leaving a colossal amount of rubble over the black demons deformed and charred body. A strange roar echoed throughout the partially collapsed hallway as the demon went through its death throes, green ichor seeping from beneath its earthen tomb.

Harry sent a few clones to poke at its body as to confirm its death, not wanting to take any chances on that behemoth getting its hands on him. 'Just how big do those creatures get?' Harry asked himself after he got confirmation that the demon was dead. Harry proceeded to seal away its corpse and weapon in a stasis seal on his right shoulder, allowing him to preserve the body to research later along with the strange crimson statues.

After glancing around the ruined corridor, Harry proceeded further into the bowels of the temple with the use of earth manipulation, a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him to head deeper. The Chakra wielder delved further and further through the ruins, having slaughtered two more of the demons that possessed weapons much like the first, though the chambers they were situated in were nowhere near as tightly compacted as the first encounter was.

After an hour or so of wandering the complex and sealing away anything of interest, Harry finally came across the most remarkable weapon he had ever seen in his three lives. The weapon was of French design, an Epee rapier with a golden and crimson hilt intricately designed, though the blade was more reminisce of an English long sword. The blade was easily six feet long, something that surprised Harry. 'A weapon like this must weigh a ton...' He mused as he lifted the blade from its resting place upon a podium. The blade was as light as a feather, and after scanning it with his Sharingan, Harry was confident that this weapon was easily one of the most powerful he had ever come across.

'There are a LOT of enchantments on this blade; it seems I just struck gold.'

Harry's musing was brought to an abrupt halt as the room began to tremor as dark magics began to billow around him. Flames tainted with dark intent began to stream from the floor, rising in pillars that easily reached the heightened ceiling of the darkened ruins.

A large quake shook the room before the ceiling partially gave way, a creature three times the size of the previous monsters falling from the massive hole, its large mace-like weapon already en route towards crushing Harry. The beast stood at easily twenty feet tall and couldn't weigh less than three tons. Crimson skin was stretched over bulging muscles, black veins tracing the arms and legs of the foul creature. Two pairs of black leathery wings adorned the demons back, torn and ripped from probably centuries of abuse and use.

The boy cursed before sinking into the earth and racing below where the colossus now crouched. Harry pumped a bit of magic into the pilfered Epee styled longsword and hoped that this blade would at least damage the creature unlike his Chokuto that had no enchantments on it. Harry leaped from the earth with his blade poised directly for the demons left eye which gave way to the glowing blade easily.

The colossus screeched in pain as it clutched its ruined eye with its left appendage while Harry scrambled around the body of the demon using chakra to cling to its flailing form. Using the blade that glowed in ethereal light, Harry was able to gouge deep trenches in his foes vital points much quicker than he could have taken down the others as the demon slammed its left hand into the spots it could feel the nimble boy hitting in hopes of crushing him beneath its huge fists.

After dodging yet another blow, Harry jumped from his position on the demons shoulders, slicing two of its wings and the back of its legs as he quickly descended towards the floor. The colossus proved itself quicker than assumed and drilled the Sage with a solid blow from its crimson mace, launching Harry away at speeds that left a trail of misty blood hanging in the air in his wake.

Harry groaned as he tried to rise from his position while assessing his injuries. 'Crushed ribcage, left lung only works at 20 percent capacity… Thank goodness for having memorized the healing techniques Kabuto used or this would have killed me for sure.'

The wounds present on him began to heal at a rapid pace, fueled by both adrenaline and Senjutsu chakra, allowing the boy to spring to his left to dodge a blow that would have crushed him. The mace wielding monster roared as it searched for Harry with its one functional eye, the glowing orange orb pulsating in anger as it scoured the room for its elusive foe.

Harry had sank beneath the earth once he landed, creating a small chamber a few feet beneath the demon as he unsealed a few healing potions for the inside of his robe. After downing two of the golden elixirs, the Shinobi charged as much magic as he could to the blade in his right hand, causing it to erupt in pale blue flames though Harry felt no heat.

The chakra wielder stabbed upwards with the blade, embedding the blade directly into the colossus's right foot only to be just as quickly retracted beneath the earth. The monster roared as he tried to lift the foot, only to find wooden snakes coiling around its legs and holding it in place. A few more serpents sprung from the ground and curled themselves around the beasts' arms before tightening and crushing the bones in its body.

The ethereal blade buried itself into the demons skull from behind, finally putting the monster to rest. Unlike the rest of the creatures in the ruins, this one didn't roar or screech as it died. The mighty carmine colored beast fell to the ground in a boneless heap before its body began to glow and fade.

Harry watched in trepidation as the creature disappeared completely, leaving a pulsating white orb and its mighty weapon in its wake. The boy scanned the room before sighing and sealing away his procured weapons in his right forearm, the colossal mace taking up much of the space left in his pocket-dimensions. The white orb was cool in his palm, though he could feel an immense heat coming from inside of it.

Thinking back on what he did with the fragments of creatures soul that he absorbed just a few hours earlier, Harry crushed the orb and watched in wonder as orange and white swirls began to spiral around him. The feeling of absorbing the energy was almost foreign to the boy, who fought with the concentrated energy to rein it into his own reserves of magic and chakra.

After a few minutes of converting the almost tangible force, Harry felt better than he had ever felt in his life. 'If my theory is correct, I can absorb the left over 'souls' if they are broken away from the body before, or after in this case, death and add them to my own… this requires research.' Harry thought to himself for the umpteenth time that night as he sank into the floor so that he could travel through the earth directly to Hogwarts, leaving the ruins in worse shape than he found them. Not that any living creature knew that, of course.

=+FoStA+=

Hermione was worried about her first friend as she watched him carefully the following day. He looked to be completely fine, but something was off about him. He seemed… mechanical compared to his usual self, as if he were going through the motions without any thought behind it and it scared her. Potions class went as well as ever, though she noticed the boy spoke in monotones the whole time. Ron Weasley attempted to lob a small ball of dittany in their cauldron but Harry send the small orb right into Ron's cauldron before it could make contact with a flick of his wrist. It was Herbology that made Hermione a nervous mess.

They were handling Devil's Snare; something that Harry had thoroughly briefed her and Draco on how to handle as well as teach them a more versatile fire spell to use when dealing with the partially sentient plant.

Instead of a small gout of steady flames, this spell utilized a precise and much hotter flame, more akin to a scalpel blade than a stream of flames. The flames would only protrude five or six inches from the tip of the user's wand as opposed to a few feet, making it easier to handle for the first years.

Harry seemed to forget about the spell he taught Hermione and Draco, instead doing something far more strange to calm the strangling plant. Harry reached out and began to pet the plant which curled up and calmed down at the boys touch. The Slytherin's and Ravenclaw's stared at the boy as he cowed the plant with just his touch instead of repelling it with flames, even Professor Sprout seemed to be dazed at watching Harry.

Harry didn't notice the stares as he continued to pet the plant as if it were a pet, the deadly vines coiling loosely around his hand in an almost loving embrace. Hermione finally nudged Harry lightly on the shoulder with her armored hand, a confused and bewildered expression on her face. "Harry, that's not how you normally do it… what on earth are you doing?!"

Harry finally noticed the odd looks he was getting from his classmates and stopped coddling the Devils Snare, which seemed to droop in disappointment when he finally withdrew his hand. "I have an affinity for nature; this beautiful specimen just wants to feel loved." Harry murmured as he turned back to the plant, giving the rest of the class a slightly amused glance before diverting his attention back to the now playful tendrils of the plant.

Professor Sprout was delighted as she watched the boy continue to handle the plants with just his hands, not having seen anyone with such an ability with the plants outside of the Gryffindor first year Neville Longbottom, though he still had to use his wand to subdue and handle the coiling vines.

Hermione and Draco stuck close to Harry and kept the more curious members of both houses from pestering the boy as he absentmindedly played with the vines as if he were staring far past the material world and further into the very depths of the void that lay Above and Below.

Draco grumbled in annoyance as Harry once again stole the limelight, though he knew he shouldn't be jealous of the boy. Harry had already given the blond more than any other person than his parents in both friendship and gifts, whether they are the bow and daggers now concealed on the boy or the knowledge Harry has given him freely or the broom that outstripped the rest of the Slytherin house. The fact that Harry could crush him without much effort was also part of the equation that prevented Draco from being jealous.

The rest of Herbology was an excited affair as the students and teacher eyed Harry and his tremendous affinity for plants, though Defense Against the Dark Arts was dull enough for Harry to actually fall asleep in. Kingsley Shacklebolt only allowed for usage of wands once a week, and even then the man would lecture on trivial subjects rather than actually teach the students anything useful besides the stinging hex. Harry was convinced after the first week that Shacklebolt would continue to be useless, as Dumbledore didn't want the next generation able to defend themselves or think for themselves so that they might rely on him for making decisions for them.

After Dinner, Hermione and Draco cornered Harry once they were able to pull him away from his place while walking back to the dungeons, dragging him to the seventh floor where they finally confronted him in the Room of Requirement. "Okay, Harry, spill it. What is on your mind?" Draco spoke up as he eyed the boy curiously, a slight tinge of worry appearing on his face as he questioned the boy.

Hermione stood silently to the side as she watched Harry mull over his response before he finally spoke. "I had a bit of a rough night last night; I'm still trying to process all that happened, honestly." Harry responded as he willed a comfortable looking chair into existence thanks to the abilities of the room they often used.

"Neither of you have ever wandered into the Forest, correct?" Harry asked as he unsealed one of the crimson statues from its stasis after ensuring that it wouldn't attack either of his friends. Hermione answered in the negative while Draco just shrugged his shoulders. "I had detention thanks to that prude McGonagall, she made that arrogant Longbottom and I go with the filthy groundskeeper through the Forest on patrol. Why do you ask?"

Harry was a bit shocked at hearing that Professor McGonagall would send first years into the forest for detention when she knew that was clearly a violation of protocol and could get her in serious trouble as well as the groundskeeper for agreeing to the situation in the first place.

"I ended up having to kill two Acromantula with the bow to keep myself and chubby from being devoured after the groundskeeper wandered off to do goodness knows what. Thanks to the mind arts, Longbottom is none the wiser that he owes me a life debt." Draco continued as he too conjured a chair to sit on while Harry and Hermione listened to the Malfoy heir. Hermione paled drastically at hearing the boys words while Harry leaned further back in his chair, mulling over the revelation.

"It seems it is time to begin training harder if the professors are going to be so bold as to send a few students to their deaths." Harry admitted as he animated the crimson statue using a technique he learned from draining the first statue he encountered of its 'knowledge'. The crimson crystalline figure began to stretch as it walked off of its pedestal, looking around the room as if it were alive.

"This is something I encountered during my own ventures into the forest, this is going to be our sparring partner for the next few months as we get used to working in a squad." Harry spoke as the crystal statue began to charge a pyroclastic spell within its hands, causing Hermione and Draco to draw their weapons. Draco pulled the string back on his bow as an arrow made of ethereal magic phased into existence and unleashed itself once he released the string, sending the pale blue projectile hurtling towards the statue.

The statue rolled quickly out of the way of the arrow and sent the spell 'she' was charging towards the three of them, a wave of golden flames erupting from the ground and spiraling towards the three. Harry stomped his foot and sent a pulse of earth chakra into the ground, causing a wall of stone to erupt from the ground after he lazily rose from his chair. Draco and Hermione were shocked at both the attack and defense used against it, not having seen magics used like the ones either was wielding.

The wall of earth dropped and Harry launched forward, slamming his open palm into the statue only for it to lean with the blow and attempt to swipe his feet from beneath him. Draco continued to launch arrows at the figurine when he had a clear shot while Hermione rushed forwards and bashed the animated statue with her shield as hard as she could to give Harry breathing room, slashing her large sword towards the statue all the while.

The fighting continued for an hour until Hermione and Draco were too tired to continue, causing the statue to stop attack while Harry himself just watched the two in amusement. "Are you two already done? We were just getting started!" The boy joked as he sat himself down in the reconjured chair before handing the two of them a glowing green vial of liquid. "These are stamina and energy replenishing potions; they will make you feel better."

The three started talking about the fight and strategies the three of them could use in a fight. Harry looked torn towards the end of the session before shaking his thoughts off, though Draco and Hermione didn't notice. "Hey, Draco, have you ever used an Epee or Longsword?" Harry asked as he unsealed the beautiful blade from his right forearm, showing the blond the blade. The golden basket hilt that surrounded only the front of the first was beautifully grafted, allowing complete protection of the hand while allowing for more downwards slices as well as jousts.

"I have been trained to be proficient with both; my family did originate in France after all." Draco smugly answered while he eyed the ornate weapon. "I want you to have this, then. I can't wield it to its full potential, but something tells me you will be able to." Harry murmured as he passed the weapon he almost lost his life for to the boy after the feeling wouldn't leave him. It was a spectacle to behold as Draco grasped the hilt of the weapon which flashed a blue that was the same shade as the boys eyes before dulling down so that the glow only surrounded the now shortened blade. As opposed to the great length that Harry found the blade, the instrument of death now only reached three feet and seemed to be thinner, something that suited Draco much better than the lofty weapon it once was.

"How fascinating…" Harry drawled as he watched his male friend gave the weapon a few practice swings before going through the motions of an intricate style, likely one of his families creation as Harry couldn't place any of the starting or finishing motions of the techniques.

"It seems to suit you much better than the daggers, that much is certain." Hermione stated as she watched the boy complete his pattern before sheathing the blade and shoving it into his own personal pocket dimension. "That it does, Hermione, it's like finding a long lost friend." Draco stated as he nodded his head towards Harry in thanks of the ornate weapon.

Harry shrugged his shoulders as the statue they were sparring against stalked towards its pedestal. The black haired Snake Sage sealed the statuette back into his arm before the three Royals left the room and stealthily making their ways back to the dungeon, careful to dodge Albus and Shacklebolt who were holding a meeting on the third floor in the hallways. Harry left a clone hiding under Meseigakure to listen in on the twos conversation, having been out of the loop on Dumbledores machinations for too long in his opinion. 'Let's see what you are up to, old man.'

=+FoStA+=

Andddddddd that's a wrap for this chapter. Don't make me beg for reviews folks! Tell me what you think, gimme an idea, tell me it sucks and you hate me, I don't care just review!


	8. Rebirth

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 8; Rebirth of a Dark Wraith

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto, Harry Potter or anything else I might reference. Ziltch, Zippo, Notta thing.

AN:/ Sorry about the quality of the story, guys and girls. I am writing this mostly out of my head and publishing without a beta. I'm trying to keep the 'power-ups' within reason, though Harry, Draco and Hermione are still nowhere near close to Dumbledores power level. Think of it like the anime DBZ, at the beginning of the series Goku had a power level of 9000, while at the end of GT it was over a billion. Dumbledore is closer to a billion while Harry and his crew are still in the millions. The black knights are just in the millions. :] (no, DBZ will NOT be making an appearance in this mash up.)

If you would like to Beta this story, or even bounce a few ideas off of me, don't be scared to send me a PM, I'll try to respond to each and every one.

To everyone who reviewed; I LOVE YOU GUYS

=+FoStA+=

The invisible clone clung to the walls as it stealthily crawled towards the two men, its movement muffled completely by a dampening charm. Long black hair was tied and stuffed into its shirt so that it wouldn't touch the two men of power that continued to talk in the corridor.

"It is going to be a few months, but it is my theory that Voldemort will be making his way back to the magical world. Have the Auror's and Hitwizards under my control begun to prepare themselves for the coming war?" Albus asked quickly as Harry finally made it to a spot where he could eavesdrop on the conversation without being discovered.

Shacklebolt didn't reply, merely nodding at the elder man's words as his eyes scanned the area after he held up a hand to silence his master. "We shouldn't be speaking on matters of such sensitivity in a place like this, Albus, what on earth possessed you to even call me to a meeting here?"

Albus smiled in a grandfatherly fashion before quickly drawing his wand, "_Crucio_! Do not question me, Kingsley; it is not your place to decide where we have our meetings, that right is mine." Albus snarled as he knelt down and gripped Shacklebolts' face. "Now, are they ready for war?" The headmaster asked again, his eyes flashing an orange-red color as the black lines spread from his sockets.

Kingsley nodded after the cruciatus spell was released, panting for breath as he curled into a little ball. The shadow clone sighed as it watched the spectacle, having grown to slightly resent the defence teacher, only for his resentment to grow.

Harry silently opened up his mental link with Voldemort, allowing him to view the conversation in full so he wouldn't have to relay it at a later date. Voldemort stopped his task of torturing information out of a captured hit wizard and tilted his head to the side as more and more information began to pour into his mind.

_**'How interesting... Continue the good work, my Heir, you are doing wonderful.' **_Tom finally answered after reviewing the conversation for a second time. Harry sent his affirmation before closing the mental link.

'Now why would the 'Light' Lord only ASSUME that Voldemort was back?' The clone asked itself as it began to ponder the headmaster's words. 'I think the original needs to hear this now as opposed to later.' And with that, the clone used a silent Shunshin to remove itself from the hallway before dismissing itself, allowing Harry to recall the conversation and torture with utmost clarity.

Albus scoffed at the downed man before walking away quickly, his eyes fading back into twinkling blue. He of course didn't notice that his robes were currently on fire for one reason or another.

=+FoStA+=

Bellatrix groaned as she stared at the pile of paperwork needed to be complete. "You know, Master gave OROCHIMARU the order to create a muggle organization, not me. Why am I stuck with the paperwork?"

Orochimaru, as if summoned just by mentioning his name, walked into Bellatrix's office with a sardonic grin on his face. "Because you are the one who knows more of the… science behind the operation than I. You are Harry's _Sinistre _after all, while I am his _Manus_." The pale Sage answered her previous question while he began to walk around the office and eye its contents curiously.

"You have rearranged your office three times this week, Bellatrix." The student of Hiruzen noted as he finally took his place in the seat across from Bella's desk, a small smile still on his face as he eyed the woman. Bellatrix grunted in an unladylike fashion as she glared balefully at the man across from her. "I can't help it. It always seems so… lacking." She murmured as she signed one of her many false names to the legal paperwork.

"So, have you secured us a few buildings to install the clinics yet?" Bellatrix asked as she finally gave up on the paperwork for a moment, conjuring two glasses with a wave of her hand before filling them with gleaming white juice, courtesy of the white 'apples' that grow around the Asylum. Orochimaru took the glass gratefully and sipped its contents before replying.

"Yes, fifteen locations in the United States and twenty here in England, as stated earlier I was not able to infiltrate Russia to instill the program there as well. The Spanish states around the world are a bit reserved on our proposal, but Japan is fully on board with the operation." The white snake drawled as he withdrew a map of Earth from his sleeve, pointing out each location as well as noting that each of the blueprints were sealed individually in each dot on the map.

"Perfect. What of the Nuclear Energy Removal procedure?" Bellatrix rattled as she finished her glass of juice before banishing the glass to the void. Orochimaru shook his head in the negative. "Only Japan is interested at all, It seems they themselves have been trying to remove the reactors but have no other means to mass produce energy like the rest of the Super Powers of this world."

Bellatrix sighed at the news before nodding her head, returning to the paperwork a few moments after Orochimaru dismissed himself from her office. "I have been neglecting my time in the Labs lately…"

Any excuse to get out of paperwork was a good one in her eyes.

=+FoStA+=

Lucius sighed as he read the latest letter from his son Draco. The boy had droned on and on about what they were learning in and out of class, whether it be spell or swordplay. Lucius was proud of his only son, but the blond youth certainly knew how to rattle on about insignificant subjects. 'Why must he rant about every little thing? This is Narcissa's fault, no doubt.' Lucius moaned in his head as he thought of his wife, who was just beginning to show signs of pregnancy.

"Darling, where are you?" Narcissa's voice called out from down the hall, the man having given her the slip to hide away in his study. Lucius groaned again before calling out. "In the study, dear. Just reading over Draco's most recent letter." The Malfoy Patriarch called as his wife finally walked into the room.

"How is our son doing? I hope he is staying out of trouble, I have had a hard enough time not going to the school to strangle the deputy headmistress after the last spectacle." Narcissa droned as she took a seat next to her husband, pulling his arm close to her in a loving embrace.

Lucius smiled at his wife gently before bringing up a subject he was a bit reserved of bringing up. "Dear, I don't have good news…" Lucius began, "It seems Voldemort wishes for the Death Eaters to meet tonight, now that every one of the Azkaban inmates have recovered to their fullest potential."

Narcissa nodded her head and looked down to her slightly bulging stomach, cradling the bulge protectively while defiantly looking back up to Lucius. "If you die, I will never forgive you."

"I have no doubt you will darling. The moment Draco returns for winter holidays; we are moving the entire Manor to Asylum One." Lucius stated as he looked from his wife to stare out of the large window that overlooked his yard. The green and silver bloomed trees that Orochimaru had provided for him were truly amazing, providing both protections from intruders and bearing wonderful fruits year round in extreme abundance.

"We may be protected here, but not enough… We are a growing family that is protected by one of the most powerful organizations in the world, we will be fine. I have my duties as a seated member of Akatsuki to fulfill as well as my position within the Inner Circle, not to mention that it would provide you with the opportunity to spend time with your remaining family members any time you wish."

Narcissa looked torn on the matter, her face scrunched up in worry. "You are sure we will be fine? That this is truly the only way to fix our world?" She inquired of her husband as she curled up against him as he continued to overlook his property.

"Of course this is the only way, Dumbledore has made it impossible otherwise. The Akatsuki is more along the lines of a neutral military force that sells its uses out to the highest bidder. I will be putting myself in a few risky situations, but it is nothing I can't walk away from. Our Lord has become almost... forgiving after his most recent bout with Death." Lucius admitted, tilting his head as he grabbed the glass of wine that rested on his chair side table. Narcissa mimicked the man and poured herself a glass, nursing it gingerly as she lost herself in her thoughts.

"We will be fine, dear. Do not worry, everything will work itself out." The blond man stated as he hugged his wife tightly to his chest, resting his chin on her head as the two continued to ponder the future.

=+FoStA+=

Hermione panted in exhaustion as she knelt on the ground, having just ended the latest sparring session between herself and Harry, who didn't even look winded in the slightest. "Harry, how are you so good at this?" Hermione asked between pants, finally rolling over to seat herself on the ground and gratefully accepting a green potion from Harry.

"Well, it's just years of experience you could say." Harry admitted before staring down at his right palm in concentration. A bright violet flame flickered into existence, hanging precariously between his hands as he raised his left to cradle the small orb in the center of the small blaze.

Hermione watched as Harry continued to experiment with the fire before questioning him. "Harry, just what is that? When are you going to tell me what is going on with you?"

Harry gazed at the girl for a moment before his eyes drew back to the orb, "Soon, Hermione. Soon. Would you like to learn the art of Pyromancy?" Harry inquired as he began to juggle three small violet balls of flame. Hermione shrugged her shoulders as she sealed her blade and shield into her pocket dimension.

"Of course I would like to learn. How about an explanation first though?" Hermione quipped as she scooted closer to Harry to get a better look at the oddly colored fire. "Well, the Flame here is something I… Inherited, you could say, from a powerful sorceress long dead. She left a small portion of her soul inside the crimson statue we have been sparring against, one that contained knowledge of Pyromancy as well as the techniques involved." Harry explained as he held his right palm away from the two, a small jet of dark purple flames shooting from the small orb that hovered above his palm.

"It does not drain your magic reserves like most forms of sorcery, instead drawing its power from your soul itself. The spark of life itself began with the flame, all-consuming and powerful. Man rose from the flames as did the gods of ancient times, but only a few were able to wield it like this." Harry finished as he held the sphere towards Hermione for her to grasp.

The first year Slytherin held out her hand slowly, not wanting to be burned by the oddly colored element before she felt a tug on her very being as an orb of bright red and orange embers erupted from her hands. "It seems you have a powerful flame as well. Is it because of the ancient sorcery at work, or something else?" Harry mused as he watched Hermione experiment with the orb of condensed inferno.

"It is a part of you now, just as your organs or body parts. The flames are untameable, supposedly, playful and fierce with no sense of right and wrong. Do not let it consume you like it has consumed so many others, Hermione, it is a fate worse than death." Harry warned as his first friend began to stare at the coiling and writhing pyroclastic flame that writhed in her hands.

"I… This is wonderful, Harry! Just how do I even use it though?" Hermione questioned, standing from her seated position with renewed vigor, eager to practice with her newly gained ability to wield the ancient art of Pyromancy.

The two continued to practice well into the night, missing curfew easily by a few hours. Professor Slughorn was all but brain dead at this point; Dumbledore having removed his thrall far too late to save the man's greatly faded intelligence, let alone talent for potions. After contacting Tom on what to do about Slughorn, he was given a restorative draught through their connected storage seals located on either of their left wrists, allowing them to exchange objects between the two of them without having to meet in person.

The Draught was a powerful creation based upon the regeneration of brain cells, which are destroyed in a gradual process the moment someone is enthralled against their will, something that Harry discovered while studying the genetic information on the trees created to draw upon Natural Energy much like Harry does passively.

The Prefects of Slytherin knew that Harry, Hermione and Draco would sneak out, but they didn't care in the least seeing as they were such outstanding students. Harry thanked the Gods for illusions; they made his life almost too easy when dealing with such simple minded folk.

The next morning was rough on the two of them at the leering gazes Draco kept sending their way, causing the boy to roll his eyes. "Draco, we are eleven years old going on twelve. Quit being a pervert, Ero-chan." Harry grumbled as he poked at his breakfast, a dish consisting of Tamagoyaki, which is a rolled omelet served with grated radishes, and a bowl of miso soup to wash it down.

Draco scoffed at the notion. "I am no pervert, Potter, but we all know that you two cannot stop yourself from snogging yourselves senseless, there is even a betting pool in Slytherin on who can catch you two in the act!" The blond defended himself as he ate his own breakfast, Oatmeal with a few slices of toast.

Hermione was blushing all the while, sputtering as she tried defending herself and Harry, "T-that does not happen! He just teaches me techniques and helps me improve myself!" She finally rattled out after her voice failed her a few times in embarrassment.

Harry was not amused by the joke but did not comment any further on it, instead focusing on the owls that had begun to pour through the Great Hall. Harry had Orochimaru and Bellatrix purchase him an owl when he noticed that he himself neglected to purchase one while most recently being in Diagon Alley. A snowy white owl flew majestically through the air before it gently laid the contents of its delivery down in front of her owner, letting out a small bark before landing on the boys shoulder.

Harry grinned slightly and gently stroked the top of Hedwig's head with his thumb, feeding the white owl a piece of bacon as he did so. "Thank you girl, I don't know what I would do without you." The owl hooted in delight as a response before taking off with a few more slices of bacon in her beak. The black haired boy looked down at the contents of the parcel Sirius had sent him, mostly projects that needed his approval as well a package containing two potions that Harry felt would be needed very soon.

The three continued to enjoy the others company as they made their way to Herbology, the first lesson of the day for them. Harry noticed the look in Albus's eyes this morning, having seen that look in many others throughout his many years. 'Something is going to happen soon, and he is going to be to blame.'

=+FoStA+=

The rest of the first half of school came and went quickly, the children all lining up to return home for a few weeks to enjoy the winter solstice with their families. Harry was busy telling Hermione that he would be fine and for her to keep in touch with him using the charmed mirror he gave her and Draco, just in case anything happened to either of them.

"Harry, you have taught me so much in the past few months, do you honestly think I am going to have trouble in the mundane world?" Hermione quipped as she held her hand on her hip, the other sparking up into flames for a split second as if to prove her point. Harry sighed before nodding his head, "You know that is not the point. Dumbledore could attack us at any moment if Shacklebolt is to be believed, I don't want him doing anything to you."

Hermione sighed before she too nodded her head solemnly. "Do not fret, Harry, we will get through this." The bushy haired girl murmured before pulling the startled Sage into her arms, the ebony gauntlets still in place underneath the custom gold hemmed and woven thestral hair robes that Harry had made for her to wear under her chest piece and over the rest of her armor.

Her school robes would go over the rest of the ensemble, allowing the young witch to conceal the armor that she has taken to wearing constantly. Of course, students noticed the gauntlets and grieves but did not dare comment on it after a few nasty looks from Draco and Harry sent them scattering on the four winds.

The cloth was weaved with the strongest fire protection spells as well as a bullet/arrow stopping spell that nullified the velocity of any projectile that had a mass smaller than herself, though it would not stop enchanted projectiles or many magic spells. Her shield and sword were kept in pristine condition after Harry cast a few more enchantments over them, allowing his bushy haired friend to channel her flame magics through the tempered black blade. The style of the robes was designed after the ancient witch that parted with portions of her soul to power the protective statues that overlooked the underground city.

"Of course, I am doing all I can to negate his every move before he can make them, but running blind can only get me so far. Just contact me when you get home to let me know your safe, alright?" Harry asked as he pulled himself from the embrace of his female friend.

"You know I will! Well, see you later Harry, don't want to keep my parents waiting too long!" Hermione said before she began to walk away quickly while waving one hand over her shoulder to Draco as he too left the area with his parents. Lucius and Harry had finally met in person and got along swimmingly well after the man spied the ring on his left little finger.

Harry sighed before turning on his heels, departing from Hogsmeade station with his cloak billowing behind him. While the rest of the students would be home with their families for the yearly celebrations, Harry himself would be delving into the ruins of ages long past in hopes of deciphering the many riddles of the ancients and cause as many problems for Dumbledore as he can. 'After I finish setting up a Lab in the molten ruins, of course.' Harry thought to himself, the weapons stolen from the demons running through his mind.

His Chokuto was still on the pedestal deep within the ruins of the city, where it would remain as a testament of his accomplishment. 'It's not as if people delve into the ruins of an aeon old stronghold filled to the brim with demons often, after all.' Arrogant thoughts aside, Harry was rather happy with recent developments, whether they be mundane, magical, chakra related or of Pyromancy.

Harry could wield the ancient flame proficiently, though Hermione had taken to the techniques far easier than Harry. Being Water and Earth natured with a minor wind affinity made using the flame very difficult for Harry, who still struggled with Katon chakra thanks to his conflicting natures.

The Shinobi made his way to the ruins under the cover of Meseigakure, having sealed away his belongings into his arm for his extended stay in the soon to be built laboratory. Dumbledore was under the assumption that Harry left the castle under the guardianship of Orochimaru and Sirius Black thanks to the ever useful Shadow Clone technique.

The construction of the research facility only took a few hours; though getting the geothermal generators online in the large room that previously contained the carmine statues was a bit of a task. Trying to avoid massive damage to the body while setting up the power stations was an arduous and risky procedure for the youthful Sage, coating his body in the Flames now tied to his very being the only option when it came to installing the core to the reactors thanks to the ability to negate the intense heat with his own.

A few rooms were created to house the medical equipment necessary to study the bodies of the many creatures slayed by Harry while one was dedicated to creating a forge capable of smelting down the weapons of the demons as well as study the nature of the metals contained within.

At the end of the day, Harry finally stopped to relax after spending hours and almost all of his magical reserves and chakra to create a base of operations though it would take many more days to make it fully up and running. A room designed to match the one in Asylum One was something the black haired preteen was glad he created after he realized he greatly missed his first true home.

"Summer vacation is going to be a mess." Harry sighed as he thought of his long term plans for the future while he rested in his conjured bed, going through his nightly rituals before his mind began to wander too far. "Dealing with the war front should be interesting enough, but I dread when it is time to open the cancer clinics. It can be rough running a criminal organization from the shadows, I already need a break." Harry slurred as his eyes began to droop, the green and gold speckled orbs dulling as they closed.

=+FoStA+=

"Thank you all for coming on this wonderful day, it means the world to my company and me that so many of you have made it here for the opening of our first clinic. My name is Rose Atrum, one of the three founders of Donum Misericordiae, and as our name implies, we are a charity organization committed to ridding the world of cancer and other malicious diseases that addle the human body, including AIDS, HIV, Alzheimer's and many others. Already more clinics are being opened around the world, each committed to the healing of Man's many wounds."

Bellatrix and Orochimaru were both dressed as muggles for the occasion of the first clinic being opened, both members of Akatsuki being incredibly uncomfortable in the restrictive clothing. The Sannins black suit contrasted greatly with the man's pale skin but the golden tie complimented his eyes and hair that were of the same shade of as his suit.

The Lestrange-Black chose a simple ash-gray and green dress for the occasion, her hair being completely straight and eye color changed to a hypnotic emerald to keep the mages that might be present off of her trail. She was dead to the magical world after all, no need to let them know otherwise.

Bellatrix, under the alias Rose Atrum was able to hire dozens of recent graduates from Beuxbatons over the course of a few months, each trained to administer the medications that Harry and herself had concocted after almost a year of studying the various ailments that pecked away at the life of countless men, women and children.

Orochimaru was able to help the process along by funneling a few thousand of galleons into the many mediwitches coffers as an incentive to accept the job offer when Bellatrix approached them, each eager to start if only in greed at the thought of the money involved. Nations with the larger population centers were going to be the first to receive the facilities and medications, each building capable of seeing upwards of a few thousand people a day thanks to the system Bellatrix was able to come up with, processing ten people at a time for ailments that matched.

Cancer patients would be grouped together by the type of cancer as well as the stages involved in the terminal illness to be treated at one time. Those closer to dying and those on deaths doorstep were seen first, leaving the ill folk that passed through Donum Misericordiae in a recoverable condition with free dosing of non-narcotic medicines to dull the pain of the regeneration process.

The Red Cross organization was one of the major benefactors in the development of the facilities and medications en masse after seeing the results of the miracle cures created by the criminal organization, not that any of the world knew what went on behind the scenes. While Harry may have instigated a world war so that he might isolate England and her allies from the world, he was not going to sit back with his head in the sand while people were dying of illnesses that he could develop cures for. Good publicity was, as it implied, a good thing.

When questioned on it by Bellatrix, Harry simply shrugged his shoulders. "I am not going to have the world suffer like Dumbledore would have. I may have my own agenda to push but a little good will now will go a long way in the future when it comes time for Akatsuki and its members to step into the role of leadership along side the Death Eaters."

Representatives of the many nations that the clinics were going to be available in were present for the monumental day, eager to see the results for their own eyes on if the talk of a cure for many different ailments was true or just an elaborate hoax. Japan and Denmark were the two countries to practically fall over themselves when the first case of cancer was announced to be fully removed from the afflicted body of the patient.

It was a good day for the world, regardless of the war that continued to be waged in the Pacific Ocean between the two world powers of Russia and the United States. Already word was being spread of an escalation between the nations after peace talks once again failed thanks to the baby faced president of the US that 'inherited' the title from the late George Bush Sr. Rough times were ahead of the world, but they would be facing it with hope now that they had a small light in the ever growing darkness.

=+FoStA+=

Gellert Grindlewald had patience in mass amounts, that much was absolutely certain. Years of dealing with Albus Dumbledore and subsequently the problems that the man seems to attract to him like moth to the flame needed to be adapted to.

The problem between the nations Gellert and Albus once controlled was not something they had anticipated, the conflict having almost completely destroyed their grasps on the two nations. Grindlewald had been ousted from his position as the shadow president the moment his puppet George Sr. was assassinated, leaving the mass murderer without his main source of income. That little bit tested his once absolute patience.

The years had dragged on since his imprisonment in Nurmengard, built atop the very ruins his most ancient family resided, though they were not unproductive. Many mysteries of the magical world were unraveled in the very halls that held him hostage as the Dark Lord turned prisoner continued to delve into the secrets of the human body and mind.

Theories had been broken left and right when Albus was present in the very beginning of his stint as lord of Germany, though the progress had stagnated to a halt the moment Gellert's lover was elevated to the status of the 'Lord of Light' and returned to his home of England to become Headmaster of Hogwarts and Chief Muggwump of the Wizengamot.

Gellert grumbled to himself as he continued to pour over the medical chart in his hands, his storm grey eyes scanning the documents with rapt attention. The elderly man was certain that within months as opposed to years, Dumbledore and he would reside in completely new bodies capable of utilizing the full extent of their magical cores and expanded souls as opposed to mere fractions like the frail human bodies they currently resided in. "The numbers look right, I suppose it is time to initiate phase two of the project. I'll tell Albus the good news, hopefully he will break away from his temper long enough to come visit."

The former Dark Lord wandered away from the laboratory as the beginning phases of the bodies' construction came underway, building upon two fine specimens of muggle descent, their souls having long ago parted to the Fields of Elysium to rest. A jaunty tune from the early thirties sprung from the strange man's lips as he whistled while walking away from the laboratory, a spring in his step that wasn't present even a day ago.

=+FoStA+=

If there was anything Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. wanted anything more in the world at the moment, it would be the head of Dumbledore for all of his transgressions, not to mention the arrogant Longbottom boy that dared to call himself 'the-boy-who-lived' in mockery of his Heir.

"My Lord, I had no idea of his betrayal, I swear!" Goyle Senior screeched at the top of his lungs, his pain receptors almost breaking the threshold of critical condition. It felt as if needles of varying sized were being driven into every orifice of his body after being dipped in molten steel, as if daggers of the fires of hell itself were stabbing into him millions of times a second. The pain was unlike any other time he was held under the Cruciatus spell, the pain and agony being boosted to multiplicities of its previous power.

"Do not lie to me, Goyle; it is unbecoming of a servant to speak such falsities to his Lord!" Voldemort sneered as he increased the power behind his spell. One of his prominent middle tier Death Eaters was recently spotted conversing with Albus Dumbledore in the Hogs Head, owned by one Aberforth Dumbledore.

Crabbe Senior was a dead man, he just didn't know it yet. Despite Lucius once sponsoring the man as one of his benefactors during school, he had worn out his use the moment he thought of conversing with his adversary, something the middle and lower ranking Death Eaters before him now understood.

Flexing his magic 'muscles', Tom continued to pour more power into his Cruciatus curse, figuring that the more this man felt his anger, the more he would understand just how bad he failed.

Harry had given him the perfect vessel to reside in, one far better than the body he was born with, one capable of channeling his Mana far better than ever thought possible. Long black hair adorned the man's head, pulled back away from his aristocratic face that gave off the look of nobility not even seen in the Royal Family of England.

His nose was of perfect shape as were his eyes, though the once beautiful blue orbs were now an eerily glowing crimson that seemed to peer into the very soul and always find the observed lacking. A strong jawline gave way to a long neck, covered in strange black scales that held his soul into place, a project and gift most recently completed by Bellatrix and Severus, who worked fanatically to make sure their lord was comfortable.

A suit of antiquity covered the Dark Lord from head to toe as if they were pulled directly from the Edwardian era of the United Kingdom. A vest and undercoat woven of Acromantula silk rested beneath an overcoat created by a mixture of Babylonian Kalkreeth dragon skin and thestral hair. Pants of articulate quality covered the man's waist from view, two straps of leather adorning his right side where bottomless enchanted pouches hung, ready to be accessed at any given moment.

Voldemort's feet were covered by finely crafted shoes with metal end-caps covering the toes in a sharp point, capable of easily punching a hole straight through robe and flesh alike. A cloak crafted of Kalkreeth dragon skin with notice-me-not enchantments powerful enough to obscure the man's presence from all not bearing the dark mark, a good defensive measure for the pesky Hitwizards and Auror's that patrolled the streets daily in Magical England, though here in Albania that wasn't a problem.

The former wraith looked down at the catatonic man as he slumped into unconsciousness, his body crumpling on itself as if a puppet cut from his strings. Members of the Death Eaters watched with bated breath as one of their members left the realm of the thinking moments after the spell released itself, faces growing as pale as the bone masks that hid their visage from the world.

"Pathetic. Truly and absolutely pathetic, the lot of you. I have awaited the day of my return for seven long years in the void between life and death as a mere fragment of a man, and not one of you, NOT ONE, sought me out. My inner circle remained loyal, truly loyal, but it took the death and resurrection of the only one capable of ending me to bring me back… can you comprehend with your tiny minds the absolute RAGE I FEEL?!"

The twenty or so Death Eaters gathered before the man cowered in place, some having already soiled themselves due to the shroud of anger that clung to the resurrected man akin to a second skin. A miasma of black ichor wafted from Voldemort after a few moments, encompassing the entire room in its thick embrace. Screams tore through the strange silence as member after member of Voldemort's forces slumped to the ground, each having passed out after coming into contact with the strange black fog.

The descendant of Salazar Slytherin slowly straightened himself, his eyes glowing much brighter than before he knocked out his lowest ranking followers in anger, bloody crimson lighting up the room shaded black by shadows. "Soon, I will be ready. Soon, Dumbledore shall die and this world shall be mine!...and Harry's, I suppose..." the demented man roared as the bodies slumped around him began to twitch, only to trail off and add the second part after his Heirs flashed through his thoughts. With a sigh, Voldemort began to pace back and forth while he thought of his most recent project.

Deep in the dead forests of Albania, in the heart of winter, here stood Tom staring down one of his most protected bunkers, something he had crafted on the off chance of nuclear Armageddon. Deep beneath the surface of the earth, a bunker crafted out of the most powerful of stones and metals rested, filled to the brim with living gardens and stores capable of sustaining an entire community for hundreds of years before emptying their caches.

The small manor and garden that rested atop the bunker where in disarray, but no where near as bad of shape as Asylum One was in during its baby stages. The enchantments that kept muggles from wandering too close to this section of forest were still intact, though they had weakened from over ten years of absence. Voldemort spun on his heels and smirked at the pale man now wandering through the tree lines, crimson eyes locking onto crimson eyes.

"Welcome, _Nosferatu_... I hope you have found my terms most agreeable."

=+FoStA+=

Harry resisted the urge to scream profanities as he rolled between the legs of the behemoth knight he found himself face to face with after delving into the canyon rather close to the Vitrified Coliseum that he was deathly afraid of approaching. The mammoth sized knight was covered from head to toe in stone armor that was covered in moss and chips, giving Harry the impression that this too was an animated guardian left over from the ancients that he found himself chasing after in a feverish pursuit.

The halberd the Stone Knight wielded was much more agile that the Catching Poles the Titan Demons as he named the black monstrosities he encountered in the smoldering ruins, catching Harry off guard more than once as he continued to use his hiding like a mole technique to his advantage. After a week of training in the ruins nonstop with Kage Bunshin to speed the process up, Harry was able to sink into any solid surface exponentially quicker than he could before, now able to become 'one' with the earth element and travel at double the speeds he could before.

While this had its traveling perks as opposed to moving on the ground level and jumping through the trees, Harry had grown sick and tired of always smelling like he just got out of a mud bath. "You are going to be a trophy in my bedroom after I am through with you, Knight!" Harry shouted as he charged a large amount of his will power into the indigo colored flame that decorated his right hand. The Sage pushed his hand forward with great force as flames of purple and dark orange hurled at the stone animaton left behind by the guardians of the ancient forest grove, condensing the inferno into a sphere before coming into contact with the chest plate of the being.

Two more swipes of its halberd through the smoke let Harry know that his attempt ended in failure, flipping backwards twice as he watched the pole smash into the ground with tremendous force, leaving a crater in the wake of the blow. 'Yeah, letting that hit me would be a bad idea I suppose.' Harry thought to himself as he flicked through eight handseals before slamming his hand into the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Ryuuchi no Yggdrasil!" Black fuinjutsu script began to spread along the ground as a tuft of smoke large enough to cover the area in its smog erupted from the seal as an eerie, almost mechanical hiss filled the air. Harry leaped backwards into the smoke, landing atop the three headed wooden serpent that he imparted a portion of his own soul within, much like the sorceress that left behind her legacy in the statues.

Unlike a normal created summon like Manda2, a pet project of Orochimaru's and Kabuto's, Ryuuchi no Yggdrasil was the cultivation of creating a sentient being created and maintained through Mokuton techniques. The Serpent, if it could be called that due to its nature as a self-sentient plant, had three massive heads much like Harry's Runespoor familiar and a length that spanned twenty feet.

The fangs of the snake secreted a poison derived directly from the nature chakra that coursed through its chakra coils and mind, capable of decaying the magical cores and physical bodies of those afflicted by the poison, death occurring within minutes of the bite being inflicted unless given the antidote immediately. Sadly, the poison would do no good against an opponent that seemed to be carved from granite.

The horned middle head lashed forward and slammed into the stone guardian, who dropped its halberd and shield to grasp the branched horns in a death grip, bracing its body and lowering its center of gravity to slow the halt of the head to a stop. With a massive heave, the stone animaton lifted the entire serpent and slammed it into a nearby wall, leaving rubble and dust raining down on the gorge the fight was taking place in.

The wooden snake shook itself rapidly to remove the large boulders that had landed atop of it and began to hiss angrily at the stone guardian, who had the audacity to spread its arms then wave its right hand forward in a 'come here' gesture. Harry blanched at the towering golems rudeness, almost amused at the humanesque gestures it seemed to know. 'Ohhhh, now you're going to get it, pebbles-for-brains!'

"Mokuton: Chie no Bihimosu! (Behemoth of Wisdom!)" Harry bellowed, slapping his hands together in a prayer-like fashion. The technique was one Harry was most proud of creating, capable of linking his mind with that of Ryuuchi so that the two could synchronize and collaborate their techniques to a deadly degree in fractions of a second due to the synapses of both Harry and Ryuuchi firing triple the speed of their previous rates.

Tendrils of fleshy wood sprung from Harry's back and merged with the head of the middle serpent as the left and right head of Ryuuchi fanned out to give the creature a complete three hundred and sixty degree field of vision.

The center head began to concentrate a large sphere of energy in its mouth, aiming directly at the show off of a Golem, who had picked up its halberd and shield at this point, hunkering down on its spot in a crouch so that its shield could cover its entire body. The deadly stone spear-like weapon was held at a ready position so that if the serpent got too close, it could impale it without risking any critical damage to its main body.

'You know, I highly doubt that little shield is going to stop this little recreated technique of mine.' Harry gloated to himself as black and white chakra began to condense into the sphere in front of Ryuuchi's center mouth before the serpent consumed the sphere.

A second later and a beam of unbridled power erupted from the snout of the wooden reptile, impacting the shield of the stone guardian with tremendous force and sending the suit of armor into the wall behind it. A large cloud of dust erupted from the canyon much like when the serpent had impacted the wall, causing a large smile to appear on the preteen Hogwarts students face.

Ryuuchi no Yggdrasil surged forward as the left and right heads coiled themselves around the slowly standing guardian, holding its arms to the side as Harry released the Behemoth of Wisdom technique. Harry sprung from his position atop the center head and rocketed towards the golem, his hand glowing a strange green color reminisce of Iryo chakra. His hand made contact with the helm of the mighty creature before it started to steam and hiss under his grasp. The rest of Harry's body came to a halt as he used his internal energy to cling to the body of his newest enemy.

The moment the Sages hand came into contact with a helm, the fight went from purely physical to purely mental. The soul of a powerful warrior from eons long passed clung to the armor, having occupied the suit of protective gear as a second body of sorts after the first hollowed away.

Images of his own death flashed through his mind as the stone being put all of its intent to destroy Harry at the forefront of its mind, its body shaking heavily to try and dislodge the two serpents that coiled around his arms and hands.

The guardian put up a valiant fight but it was for naught as Harry pulled the beings consciousness from its artificial body, using his expansive knowledge of the soul arts to absorb the energy holding it together into his own undeveloped core.

The stone suit of armor fell to individual pieces as Harry landed lightly on his feet thanks to constant reinforcement of his muscles by the sage energy that permeated his coils. "I suppose it is true after all, the legend never dies." Harry stated as he began to seal the portions of the suit away in a spare storage scroll, already thinking of ways that this suit of armor could be put to use. "Oh yes, this is going to be wonderful. Albus had better watch himself in the coming days."

=+FoStA+=

Albus Dumbledore was having a good day indeed; the first in months since he had found out Harry Potter was still amongst the living. While he had attempted to manipulate and corner the boy in hopes to 'explain' the situation, the decrepit headmaster had been filling the Longbottoms' mind with venom and hate towards the 'Boy-Who-Lived' in hopes that his spare would remove the original, especially now that Harry was a thriving member of the Slytherin House.

"It is for the greater good; after all, the boy has fallen to the darkness and refuses to be brought to the light." Dumbledore would explain to Neville as they went over many practice spells more oriented towards hallowed magic, holy spells passed down from one wizard to another verbatim rather than leaving the spells in tomes to be discovered and tainted by the 'darkness'.

"Hastam Lustitiae! (Spear of Justice)" Neville shouted as a large beam of golden light erupted from the tip of his wand, leaving a hole the size of a nickel in the training dummy that lay subject to its might. Dumbledore clapped his hands twice at Neville's accomplishment, a smirk appearing on his wrinkled and scarred face.

"Very good, Neville, but it seems to lack the 'oomph' needed to do any lasting damage to a human being. Remember, those with a stronger will than you might simply shrug off hallowed magic, as it draws its strength from the conviction of the caster."

The chunky boy nodded his head as he placed his hands on his knees, slightly bent over and breathing heavily at the exertion caused by Holy spells. "I know, Professor, I know. I'm trying as hard as I can, but this wand refuses to obey me almost every time I attempt the spell!"

Dumbledore scoffed at the boy, a deep from marring his once cheerful face. "Excuses, excuses. Get back to work, Neville, Harry Potter is not going to just 'accident' himself, after all." The headmaster spat at the boy as he walked from the large training chambers located on the fifth floor under a powerful Unplottable charm as well as the Fidelius charm for extra precaution. 'If I could find that damned map the Potter brat and his Marauder friends created I wouldn't have to go through all of this trouble!'

The elderly man had a great sense of balance, better than most in fact, so when he tripped down the flight of stairs and subsequently fell a good flight or two of the steps on his way to the fourth floor it came as a complete, and painful, surprise. The bearded 'Light Lord' groaned as he attempted to flip himself onto his back but a few of his ribs fractured from the fall caused him too much pain to do so.

Threads of chakra wrapped themselves around the man's wrist and ankles, pulling him from the ground and suspending him in the air spread eagle, making the man yell in pain as his broken ribs were forced apart and bent backwards slightly, putting immense pressure on the old man's upper torso and lungs as it forced his muscles dedicated to the respiratory system to shut down half of his bronchial system.

A suit of armor carved out of stone appeared at the end of the hallway in the blink of an eye, making Dumbledore question his sanity as he was quite sure he did not currently possess a living statue quite like this one. Moss hung from the shoulders and halberd of the sculpture, making it seem as if it were left in the wilderness to rot for decades. Chips along the suit told a story of conflict better than any spoken word could, giving Albus the impression that the suit had perhaps been worn before even HE was present on the earth.

The stone being began to walk forward at an incredibly slow pace as Albus struggled against his bonds to no avail. The elderly man was seconds away from calling his Phoenix, Fawkes, to his aid when the structure of colossal stone became still just a foot from Dumbledore's suspended position. The strange suit of armor raised its massive stone...hammer thing slowly, positioning the crescent... is that a tooth? on the suits shoulder. Dropping its massive stone shield with metal chains strewn across its massive front, the stone suit of armor that almost looked like a chess piece hefted his might... tooth, hammer thing and swung it straight at Albus's face.

Dumbledore screamed like a girl as the suit of armor abruptly disappeared just before crushing his skull into oblivion. Albus found himself suddenly standing directly outside of the same room he left Neville in to train, his body undamaged in any way or form. Cold sweat dripped down the conniving man's brow, his body gripped in chills that seemed unnaturally cold.

Albus shivered involuntarily as he looked around the hall frantically, his blue eyes no longer holding a twinkle or any sense of 'good' in them, instead reflecting an inhumane alertness and focus, as if everything was capable of being dissected and filed away with just his vision like the Uchiha clan of the Shinobi realm was capable of.

After a moment the man visibly relaxed seeing as there was no threat detected in the vicinity, at least none that his overpowered mage sight could see. Harry chuckled as he watched the man's reaction to his illusion and began planning how to defame the man in public by driving him insane with his many Genjutsu techniques that were still in the development phase. 'Next time I'm going to use Kanashibari.'

The headmaster left the hall way quickly as he kept the Elder Wand aloft in his left hand, ready to fire the strongest fire spell he knew at any moving suit of armor he saw. 'This has been a complete success, who says illusions aren't a viable field of study?' Harry thought to himself in glee as he left the scene of the crime, though not before setting an invisible clone in the hallway in his place.

The clones' orders were simple. Follow Neville from the training room that Harry could not perceive and wreak as much illusory terror upon the boy as humanly possible. 'If he thinks he could kill me with whatever pathetic spells he learns from the ant of a man Dumbledore, this little brat has another thing coming.'

=+FoStA+=


	9. Weaving Chaos

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 9; Weaving Chaos

I do not own ANYTHING related to Harry Potter, Naruto, or anything else I might borrow ideas from.

Harry is not going to tip his hand and kill off his enemies too early, he is still nowhere near powerful enough to take on Dumbledore in any type of fight, fair or unfair. Shacklebolt and Neville are small fry's compared to Harry, so of course he isn't going to bother with them until they make an attempt on him. After all, would you go out of your way to destroy an ant that hasn't bitten you?

Dumbledore is going to be a psychopath, no doubt. It's going to get worse as the years progress, but it is not going to be all Harry's doing. And if Harry were to go into the Naruto-verse, he would easily classify as High Jounin, Low Sannin on the power levels as of this moment while Dumbledore, during his prime, would have been like Uchiha Madara during the fourth war- a god, at least within THIS story. While Harry has a few unique skills and powerful abilities, he still has almost next to none experience of his own related to combat, only that of Orochimaru's and Voldemort's. One thing that I LOVE about Orochimaru is his versatility. The man is a freaking slippery SOB, and Harry is going to be just as versatile.

To everyone else, I LOVE YOU GUYS!

=+FoStA+=

Dumbledore groaned as he stared at the ceiling of his resting chambers, a comfy little suite of immeasurable pleasure created to make the reigning Headmaster of Hogwarts feel at home. Nothing really felt like home to the man any longer, having suffered random bouts of disturbing images soaring through his heads as he attempted to converse with the few employees of his that were not completely brain dead thanks to his mind control technique.

One moment the man would be speaking to Shacklebolt about the growing number of reports pouring in from Albania, and the next he would be on the floor, clutching his head as a shrill screech would pierce his ears and cause his nose and eyes to bleed.

Well, he would think they were bleeding, but after Shacklebolt helped the man to his feet and brushed the man off, no blood was present on either man's hands or Albus's face. One moment he would be discussing curriculum plans with Trelawney, his divinations professor who was too mentally…unstable to be held under his thrall, and the next he would see the demons of hell itself rise from the ground and attempt to pull him into the abyss.

Only, they really weren't there to begin with. Albus had never been quite so embarrassed when his pet seer asking HIM if HE was okay. "Shouldn't I be asking YOU that?" Dumbledore grumpily spat as he fled from the tower the woman often holed herself up in.

Winter Holidays were meant for times of Rituals with families, joyfully occurrences and the likes, not for deep seeded insomnia and bouts of insanity. The Headmaster decided to visit his estranged brother after an embarrassing incident involving a large rubber duck, a slingshot, broken eggs and lost pride.

"Aberforth, there is something VERY wrong. This duck will not stop following me around and hitting me with eggs. It just stands there, staring at me! See it, standing there menacingly?!" Albus yelped as he pointed towards the door. Aberforth stared at his brother for a long minute before he shook his head and continued to clean the many glasses in front of him. "Have you had your lemon drops lately, Albus? There is no… duck standing in the doorway."

"I have not had any since Severus went rogue and died, he was the only one who could make the calming draught correctly." Albus finally admitted as he continued to stare down the massive rubber duck that wasn't even there. The duck raised one wing and pointed the tip at its eyes before pointing it at Dumbledore.

The headmaster shook his head before bidding his brother goodbye, shoving past the rubber monstrosity and exiting out into Hogsmeade. Aberforth sighed before pulling a piece of parchment and quill from beneath the bar. 'Note to self, learn to brew calming draught.' The many denizens located at the Hogshead bar just shook their heads and went back to nursing their firewhiskey, having already grown used to the codgers eccentric behavior when they themselves attended the school.

=+FoStA+=

Voldemort sighed deeply while staring down at the most recent report brought to him by his left hand, Regulus Black. Many thought the man a traitor, one of the most hated men according to popular consencus from the many Death Eaters that congregated in Asylum One or one of the small communities recently created that bordered Asylum one.

The man was told by Tom himself to betray him, much to the shock of those now 'In the know'. It was a way to convince both the Death Eaters and the maniacs under Dumbledores control that the boy died a death most heinous, only for him to immediately begin his operations over seas.

Romania, Lithuania and Albania where once again under his control, though he had taken a page from Harry's book and started to bolster their economies. _Anonymously_ of course. War machines were being built at a rapid rate, being shipped either to the Americans or to England where they were put in a stasis seal and safely stored in Asylum One in wait.

The idea was simple, in a way. Mass produce weapons with a few renovations in their blue-prints via Orochimaru, sell weapons to the highest bidder, safely store away a few prototypes and build upon them further with Mana or Chakra technology, and reap the spoils of war.

It was a terrible thing to do, but Voldemort had given the OK, and America and Russia were to pay the price for it. Well, they were to pay Voldemort, indirectly, as he controlled most of the weapons being produced for either side through mind control and manipulation behind the scenes.

It was a very terrible thing to do, indeed. But that didn't stop Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr., from doing what he must to wrest control of the world away from Dumbledore, for surely that was a much worse fate than the muggles dying by muggle means.

=+FoStA+=

Harry sighed in contentment as a shadow clone delivered the latest report on the 'drive Albus mad' scheme, bearing good news as always. The man had taken to rambling about giant rubber ducks and being watched constantly so much that even the first years who still didn't understand the headmasters' quirks knew something was terribly wrong.

It was the eve of the Winter Solstice, or Christmas as the Muggleborn's called it, and Harry was sure that this was the most jovial he had been all year. 'It is a shame neither Hermione nor Draco is around, I could use a good spar.' Harry drawled in his mind as he sat deep within the bowels of the Molten City as he called his newest base of operations.

Wandering through the ruins had become one of his hobbies as he deciphered the many ancient writings that were carved throughout the many chambers. Thanks to earth manipulation and a rapidly expanding chakra capacity, Harry was able to stabilize a large portion of the underground city and convert it to a stronghold for those he would recruit to his cause in case they needed to flee from Hogwarts on short notice or from other areas.

One specific area at the entrance of the underground city was an Apperation port only accessible by those bearing the Inner Circles dark mark or the Akatsuki ring and necklace. This prevented those from the Ministry or those under Dumbledores control from penetrating the stronghold being built beneath the massive tree roots.

Four story buildings carved of obsidian lay beneath the chamber that housed his Chokuto, dozens of the large structures filled with lore, weapons and armor from a time long passed. A minotaur easily two stories tall stood guard of the chambers far beneath the city proper, protecting something that Harry could still only guess about. He attempted to use his mole technique to slip passed it, but the creature slammed its massive axe down and almost severed the boys head when he was directly behind it. A quick substitution with a near-by sunlight maggot saved him from a gruesome death and entombment.

Harry continued to meditate while he waited for the results of his latest experiment to come back, having tested the metal that made up the Titanite Demons' Catch Pole, having learned the name from one of the tomes lying in the ruins.

Many shadow clones were hard at work practicing earth manipulation, though calling it 'earth' would be senseless. He was attempting to create a 'metal' release, so to speak, so that he could fuse the Titanite and Chakra alloy together to make a weapon capable of handling his chakra, unlike the chokuto which barely resonated with the lad.

Progress was slow, but Harry was confident that the nature chakra running through his coils would substitute the Raiton chakra he theorized was necessary for the elusive branch of earth techniques. All he had to go on was the memories of Orochimaru's dealing with an ancient clan from Tsuchi no Kuni, having been wiped out before the villages were created by the Sandaime Tsuchikages' ancestors.

A clone burst through the door, its pale featureless mask glowing in the ethereal light cascading down from the glowing sphere hanging deftly from the ceiling with the help of runes and seals. A grin broke across the pale boys face at the clones' revelation, pleased more than words could express at the news.

Clone and Creator walked quickly to the underground laboratory, speaking in hushed tones the entire way. "So the Kinzokuno Sousa (Metal Manipulation) techniques involve a Kekkai Tōta (Bloodline Selection), who would have thought? This is going to give me a migraine, I can already tell."

Two dozen clones scrambled around the lab in a reckless frenzy, most holding clipboards filled to the brim with equations dealing with energy consummation and transformation of nature chakra to both Raiton and Katon chakra, two types of energy that Harry still had difficulty creating within his coils.

"With these seals inscribed on your palms with the skin grafting technique used to make our storage spaces, we have determined that you could theoretically control Metal Release techniques as well as you can Wood Release with the correct combination of Katon, Raiton and Doton chakra, possibly even Crystal Release and Magnetic release if our hypothesis is correct." The lead clone announced as he produced the final results of the week long research process. The Shinobi could hardly contain himself as he listened to the detailed description of the seals and the functions they could provide.

On his left hand, the Katon seal would be inscribed, allowing him to convert his natural chakra into the famous fire type energy while his right hand would contain the Raiton seal. As an afterthought, Harry made a mental note to attempt to recreate the Chidori if only because his current lightening techniques paled in comparison to the Lightning manipulation Hatake Kakashi and his estranged student Sasuke were capable of wielding.

The process took a few hours to complete, the five clones holding Harry in a stasis so that he didn't feel the operation struggled valiantly to keep him under as his chakra began to fight back against his bonds. Two of the sentry clones had to take the place of their downed brethren after Indigo colored chakra flared up around the boy and consumed the clones holding down his legs.

Harry groaned as he stared down at his bandaged hands after being told by the surgeon clone that they wouldn't function correctly for the next two days and for its creator to rest and enjoy the holidays with those at Asylum One. Begrudgingly the boy acknowledged the fact that he needed some time off after the clone threatened to sick Bellatrix on him, something that the Sage was almost terrified of. 'The woman can do anything she puts her mind to, whenever she can find it that is.'

=+FoStA+=

Bellatrix cackled ominously as Harry appeared inside of the apparition zone located at Asylum One, the woman rubbing her hands together while a strange aura flared around her. Harry had to take a few steps back at the creepiness rolling off of her like smog from an industrial distillery, 'That's… that's way worse than I was in the Elemental Nations.'

"Your clone has already contacted me and told me you would need… assistance throughout the next few days. I've got everyyyything lined up for you, master." Bellatrix chirped as she stalked towards the boy she swore undying fealty to along side Voldemort, as per the new Oath issued to those in the Inner Circle. "How about we don't and say we did?" Harry stuttered as he began to back away quicker, chakra already flowing and molding in his coils to produce a seal-less clone to Kawarimi with.

"No can do, master, I did swear to serve you faithfully for the rest of my mortal life." The deranged woman sang as she pumped chakra to her legs to increase her speed almost tenfold, blurring from her place ten feet away and appearing directly in front of Harry a split second later. "Now let's go have some lunch!"

Harry was promptly dragged away by Bellatrix as Orochimaru, Severus and Sirius watched with deadpan expressions. Severus sighed before withdrawing ten galleons from his robe, splitting them between the two of them. "We never speak of this. Regulus must not-"

"Not what, Severus? Know that you have a betting problem?" The deep agent of Voldemort piped up from behind the man, his upper body appearing from the earthen wall behind them using the elemental melding technique that Harry was so fond of. Sirius and Severus jumped quickly at the man's voice while Orochimaru arched a brow.

"Oh don't give me that look, Orochi, you love sneaking up on people just as much as I do." Regulus almost pouted as he crossed her arms over his chest like a petulant child. Sirius quickly bolted from the room at seeing that expression on his face, already knowing that no good would come of remaining in his presence. Regulus may not have been much of a prankster, but he could easily fit in with the Marauders and pull his own weight.

Orochimaru dispersed into a large gathering of snakes, each escaping from the open window the three used to spy on the Apparition zone and the subsequent kidnapping of their leader by his deranged servant. Severus looked around as his only two safety nets escaped with a shocked, but sour expression on his face. "Traitors! Nothing but traitors!" The man yelled as Regulus grabbed the man's arms and pulled him into the earthen soup that the wall had become thanks to his active technique. "Oh pipe down; you've only done this to yourself!" Regulus cackled before the wall sealed up, dragging the two of them to the nearest training facility where the man would be thoroughly humiliated for the rest of the night.

=+FoStA+=

Harry sighed as he continued to be fed by his favorite follower in his personal chambers, having not yet announced his presence to Lucius, Draco or Narcissa yet due to his current weakness. Bellatrix continued to smile the largest Harry had ever seen as she picked up another piece of teriyaki with her chopsticks before shoving it in the boys mouth, causing him to sputter and almost choke. "Be a bit gentler, hmm? I'm already embarrassed enough about this, no need to gloat."

Bellatrix shrugged demurely before she spoke. "I can't help it; I've always had a think for nursing." Harry snorted before shaking his head, "No, you've always had a thing for torturing; don't get the two mixed up."

The Black threw her head back in laughter, her chest heaving slightly as she did so. "Oh, the two are so much alike I can hardly tell the difference, it's hard not to get them mixed up." She grinned as she set the chopsticks down. "Can I get you anything else? How are your hands feeling?"

Harry sighed as he looked down at his bandaged appendages. "Can you bring me one of the pain elixirs? I'm pumping as much Iryo-chakra as I can into the tissue but its healing at the same rate regardless. It is a bit… annoying." He admitted as he leaned down and took a sip of his White Apple juice, savoring the flavor of his labors.

Bella returned with the potion a few moments later, having used the Accio spell to summon a vial from Severus's personal laboratory, not that he would be missing one miniscule potion that Harry provided the ingredients for anyways. "Here you go, Master. How goes the progress at The City? Did you bring the tombs I need for research?"

Harry nodded and pointed to the seal on his inner left arm. Bellatrix reached down and sent a pulse of her unaligned chakra into the seal, producing a large stack of books that promptly fell in Harry's lap. The boy yelped as a few of the books landed roughly on his lap and hands but clenched his jaw and bore with it. "You know, you could have waited."

Bellatrix blushed and nodded her head before wandlessly levitating the many volumes of ancient knowledge from Harry's lap and sealing them away within her bottomless pouch hanging from her hip. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking clearly." The woman admitted as a large blush sprouted across her face. 'Please don't Crucio me, please don't Crucio me, please don't-'

"Bellatrix, I'm not going to cast the cruciatus curse on you. Who do I look like, Tom? Don't answer that." Harry murmured from across the table as he heard the mental chatter going through her head via the mental link they shared. "You are broadcasting your thoughts again, calm down."

The Azkaban escapee nodded her head slowly as she sat back down across from Harry, popping a piece of chicken in her mouth to give her time to think of an excuse. Harry waved it off as he began asking questions about the many projects the woman was undertaking for the Akatsuki.

Three countries were now under the clinics supervision and have cured one hundred thousand members of Japan, Holland and America of the many sicknesses that plagued them. Japan and parts of North Korea were currently undergoing the introduction of Chakra Cores with the help of the many blood clones under Orochimaru's command. Using genetic mapping, Orochimaru and Bellatrix were able to recreate the Uzumaki clans Kekkai Genkai of Longevity and Potency, utilizing half of the Uchiha and half of the Uzumaki genetic sequence to create the clones.

The Uzumaki bloodline was necessary for the entire operation, the extreme radiation the clones were facing would easily kill any non-Uzumaki who attempted to do what they were doing. The clones were each inscribed with a seal that would destroy the body with a pulse of overpowered Senjutsu chakra once the radiation levels reached too extreme, using the same energy to power the clone that would take its place. At the same time, the radiation would be absorbed into the clone and forcefully sealed away into the void, where nothingness would consume it.

Each clone had a separate mind and personality, completely crafted to suit each of the newly created 'humans' and their physical traits. The minds of the clones would be transferred to the next body upon death using a mixture of chakra, seals and technology so that even if one of them died, they would still be capable of continuing their jobs.

Loyalty seals were inscribed upon the tongues and the base of the skulls of each body upon its 'birth', ensuring that the clones wouldn't develop too far from the 'Hive mind' Orochimaru and Bellatrix artificially created for the project. Each body was capable of sexual reproduction, ensuring that the birth of real Uzumaki and Uchiha children would occur in the future. Several of Harry's projects seemed to be going almost too well, now all that was left was to enter the political ring against Dumbledore, though he doubted he had the time. It was better to leave that to his Leader, almost sure that the man would appreciate it.

After sharing a 'Christmas' dinner with Bellatrix, Harry was left to wander the complex under guide of ANBU clones, each grafted with the 'Cursed' seal of a new design so that they could maintain after a critical blow. The seal was crafted into their very chakra networks during the creation process of the clones, mimicking Juugo's ability of the passive gathering of Nature Chakra, thus enhancing the durability of each clone tremendously and still be capable of being dispelled by Harry, unlike Orochimaru and his Blood-clone network.

He was sure he holed himself up in his lab for more than four hours as he poured over the notes of his most recent procedure once more, the knowledge his clones imparted on him was hardly enough to satiate his thirst for the creation of a new metal.

A large gathering was taking place on the far eastern side of Asylum One, consisting of the Malfoy family, the Blacks and the Greengrasses, something Harry was a bit loath to intrude upon. He was technically an outsider to the strange world he found himself in, regardless of his allegiance to the Dark Lord. He was a Shinobi first and foremost, a Wizard second. He was the first of his kind and felt that the traditions of these old families were sacred, not something that should be muddied with his presence.

His line of thought ended when Draco came sprinting from the gathering once his eyes locked onto Harry, Daphne Greengrass hot on his heels in pursuit. "Oi, Potter! You were supposed to be here an hour ago!" Draco shouted across the clearing, clearly forgetting his cool façade that his father has spent a decade instilling into him. 'He must be spending too much time around his Aunt Bellatrix.'

"Sorry, it seems your… invitation got lost somewhere between the two of us, I had no idea I was supposed to appear?" Harry questioned as he closed the distance between the three of them quickly, far quicker than Daphne was used to seeing thanks to a sealless shunshin. Draco rolled his eyes at the boys light flaunting, "Quit showing off, it doesn't suit you. Are you going to come meet my family now? You can't put it off forever, even Orochimaru is here already."

Harry sighed before nodded his head in acceptance, bracing himself as best as he could for the coming introductions. He wanted to appear as noble as possible, but not overly arrogant like he had desperately avoiding like the plague. 'Pride comes before the fall; I am not going to make that mistake again… Damn demons, ruining all of my pillaging,' "Yes, let us get this over with. I assume we will be standing around a large fire and congregating most of the night while drinking ciders and ale, correct?"

Draco nodded as he beckoned the dark haired boy to follow him and Daphne back to the clearing to meet their families. Bellatrix was the first to greet them, standing a few feet from the gathering in wait of her sworn master, having excused herself from a rather heated discussion between Narcissa Malfoy and Gabriella Greengrass over the current affairs multiple witches and wizards were taking part in, also known as gossip.

Tom and Lucius stood to the side and talked amongst themselves, no doubt under a silencing charm placed by Voldemort himself. He had a bad habit about flaunting that mythril armlet and ring, though Harry could hardly blame the man. It was a priceless artifact that was no doubt indestructible, whose power was only matched by the powers of gods themselves.

"There you are, I was expecting you ten minutes ago!" Bellatrix sniffed as she shot the boy a simmering look, though it was more comical than scary. Harry restrained himself from snorting at the picture before shaking his head. "You know, you couldn't have been here long, we had dinner no less than an hour ago. You didn't tell me I was to be expected, either."

Bellatrix shrugged before grabbing his right arm, dragging him towards where Asmodeus, Daniel and Gabriel were currently standing, just a few feet away from the gathering of the females. Severus, Sirius and Regulus were off to the side speaking with Orochimaru, not really comfortable with speaking with the other purebloods, despite Severus and Lucius's good friendship. The black haired patron of the Greengrass clan turned and looked at the lad being drug by Bellatrix with a critical eye, if only for a moment.

His gaze lightened up as Harry broke himself free of Bellatrix's grip and cleared his throat slightly. "It is good to see you in such good shape again, Heir of Voldemort."

The man promptly extended his hand, which Harry grasped and shook with a firm but not overbearing grip. "The pleasure is mine, Asmodeus. How are you on this fine evening? I hope you are finding everything well?" Harry asked, more implying his moving to Asylum One permanently to avoid falling under Death Eater siege. He didn't want to be obtuse about the subject, but he wasn't sure if the Greengrasses were privy to the information just yet and didn't want to be the one to break it to them.

"Everything is as well as it can be, the process was as smooth as Acromantula silk. I was hoping we could have a meeting a bit later, if that is alright with you of course." Asmodeus murmured with a drawl as he continued to nurse the mead in his hands heavily, the sweet aroma of juniper berries and honey wafting from the gilded horn the man was using as a cup.

The ladies of the gathering were drinking from a pouch that looked to have been made from wolves' skin and fur, containing who knew what type of liquid that they were so eager to engorge themselves with. 'Most likely one alcoholic beverage or another.'

'Who knew that so many families were into such... traditions?' Harry thought to himself as he took in the environment for a moment, weighing the question in his head.

A large pyre was constructed in the center of the clearing, consisting of Ashwood most likely grown by Tom and quickly cured by use of Katon Chakra, something that the man could mold himself thanks to having independent affinities unlike Harry, which was an anomaly as far as the boy was concerned. An impossibility made possible. Holly was hung from the stone pillars and overhanging shafts of stone, giving it a mystic feel to the environment.

A few instruments were being manipulated by magic to play different songs and jigs, a practical application to magic if Harry ever saw one. Spheres of crimson, emerald, gold, white, silver and orange hung suspended in the air while Bayberry and holly strung themselves interchangeably between the pillars and overhang. Pale moonlight gently cascaded from the skies above, radiantly lighting the gathering as well as the fire, giving an ethereal glow to those who were bathed in its glory.

The pyre raged fiercely, containing a mixture of pine, cedar, bayberry and cinnamon, giving the clearing a fascinating scent that enticed something deep within the three Sages present. Bellatrix tapped him on the shoulder at his slight daze, a bemused expression on her face. "He accepts, Asmodeus, he is just a bit exhausted after his latest project, which he has yet to divulge to me." At this she eyed the boy again, still far more comical than intimidating.

"Of course, sorry about that. I am having a rather… enlightening night, you could say. Bellatrix, would you like to dance?" Harry inquired as he felt an otherworldly feeling overcome him as he munched away on a caraway cake that was thoroughly soaked in nutmeg, roasted apples and a cider created from the spliced fruits that were abundant in the Asylum. The cake was levitating in midair as Harry ate it, a useful trick for when the hands were wounded or recuperating like Harry's were. 'This would have made a useful skill indeed in the Elemental Nations. I could have been a street performer.'

The two danced for almost an hour, having lost themselves in the music and ancient magics at work on the sacred night of December 23rd, 1991, enjoying the company of close friends and family on such a joyous occasion. After the music started to fade, the families gathered around for the telling of multiple stories of their past, ranging from humorous tales of Sirius, Lucius and Severus's time at Hogwarts to the many different customs that their world followed at the slight look of confusion on Harry's face. Daniel and Asmodeus Greengrass was very well versed in politics and were more than glad to catch Harry up on the day to day dribble of the Wizengamot and its many social issues with Lucius explaining things in between to both Draco and Harry.

Harry soaked up as much knowledge as he could from the talkative wizards and witches, eager to educate another on their ways unlike the muggle-borns who scorned their traditions and mocked them at every turn. Hermione was an exception to that strange thought pattern, though she was unable to attend the meeting as she was still spending time with her family.

Harry was already aware that the problem of blood equality didn't solely lay on the pure-bloods shoulders, but spread amongst the entire population, though none of the men present were privy to the information that Harry was Voldemort's living Horcrux. The children coming to Hogwarts with no prior contact with the wizardry world would find many of their customs barbaric and backwards, while the pure-bloods thought that the muggleborn were diluting their culture and making a mockery of their long history.

Harry was at a crossroads on the subject, having decided that this would be the main platform for his entry into the wizardry worlds political arena, something that would stop the culling of such splendid history and culture at the hands of mundane witches and wizards brainwashed to fit into Albus Dumbledores ambitious scheme of eradicating any opposition to his rule.

Namely, he was attempting to kill of the pureblood families so that he might have a large number of moldable pawns to push his agenda, not those that chose to oppose the man and keep their traditions and culture.

Cultural differences aside, it was obvious that Dumbledore has had his scheme running full steam ahead for decades now, propagating muggleborn admixture into the undiluted family lines so he could destroy the ancient magics that ran through his opponents cores, leaving the continuous births of moldable scions like Tom Riddle and James Potter in the wake. Tom had already cut a massive swathe out of the brainwashed scions of Albus's soldiers thanks to the first war, now the mad Light Lord was reaping what he sewed.

Despite what most believed, the Pure-blood families still stood strong, bearing at least a dozen to many of the minor families. Most muggle-borns only recognized the more prominent families and their lack of members, automatically assuming that those were all that was left.

Obscurity was one hell of a weapon when used at the right time. Albus may have brainwashed many of those families belonging to the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff house, but the Ravenclaw and Slytherins not directly tied in with the Death Eaters disappeared into the background.

The night ended on a light note as the families went their separate ways, the Blacks' and Malfoys' heading to their abodes on Asylum land while the Greengrasses returned to their home in Raven's Bastion, a town recently constructed on the outskirts of Asylum One using a spell to create a pocket dimension directly overlapping over the forests of the Asylum.

The forests still existed to those who wished to travel to them, while the town existed to those who wished to enter it. The towns were now self sustaining off of the wild game introduced such as turkeys and chickens, while the produce was grown within greenhouses maintained by a few blood-clones of Orochimaru's.

Harry was left to wander around with Draco for a while longer, wanting to see how far the boy has progressed over the past week with his bow and epee.

The Potter scion unsealed one of the crimson crystalline statues and powered it with a bit of his Pyromancy Flame, wanting to see how quick Draco was on his feet when faced with an opponent who had a wide range of attack but a low range of defense. The blond boy was quick to capitalize on the slow movement speed of the statuette, firing off three shots of condensed magic shaped into arrows, which chipped the crimson crystal instead of bouncing off of it like the last time he faced off against one.

The statue responded by conjuring a whip of intense flame, swinging it with precision towards the boys torso and legs. Draco unsealed his epee from the runic matrix used to seal it away like fuinjutsu before expertly deflecting the lashing inferno, the tip of the longsword bastardization glowing in an azure light due to the magic Draco continued to pump into the blade.

The statue slammed 'her' right hand onto the ground, causing massive pillars of fire to erupt from the grassy knoll that threatened to consume the first year if not for his backwards roll that brought him barely out of the cataclysms range. Draco fired off two more shots against the statue, slamming into its head after he quickly resealed his blade away, slipping further and further out of the statues range as he pelted it with volleys of magic.

A quick enchantment on the bow after Draco redrew his wand from its holster in his sleeve allowed him to imbue each 'arrow' with the ice element, thus causing the areas of impact to freeze and hinder the fluid movement of the stone animaton. The female statue charged an orange sphere of sorcery into her hands before slamming them into her own chest as a light sheen of sizzling water quickly appeared on her 'skin'. The ice quickly sublimated under intense heat after a few seconds passed, allowing the statue to continue its onslaught of powerful fire techniques and hand to hand combat, something Draco was lacking proficiency in.

Lucius and Narcissa stood to the side as they spied on the gathering between Harry and their son, though Harry knew of their presence thanks to his chakra sensory technique. Lucius was proud of his son for his combat prowess, having not seen a fight like this in ages, not since his unfortunate venture into the forbidden forest with the Lestrange brothers during his sixth year.

The fact that Draco was not using his wand to do the fighting was a bit upsetting, but he understood that Harry wasn't JUST a wizard and would impart different skills unto his friends and followers. While they didn't come out and say it, Orochimaru and Bellatrix hinted that Harry was not to be trifled with least the instigator wishes for a good death and Lucius did not in fact wish for that.

As a fellow seated member of Akatsuki, he was hesitant to draw the boys wrath, himself not being proficient in any of the Shinobi techniques besides his mental arts Orochimaru had helped him create using his knowledge of the Yamanaka techniques.

Narcissa was torn between gasping at how violent her son could be or cheering him on as he continued to pulverize the statue that only recently began to take damage from the onslaught of attacks. She eventually decided on silently cheering him on, not wanting to distract him and end up being the reason he would be wounded.

"Harry, just what have you been teaching him? He was never this agile when I was teaching him to duel, that's for certain." Lucius muttered low enough that Draco wouldn't over hear but Harry would catch the man's words easily. "Not near as much as he is displaying right now, the Epee he is wielding might be semi-sentient. From the way he is moving, it looks like he has been wielding it for decades, not just month or so."

Harry edged away from the side of the clearing so that he could speak with Lucius while still overseeing the fight, not wanting one of his only friends to be wounded on his watch, at least not critically. "Your son is a very fast learner, Malfoy, I have to say. His skill with the wand is second only to mine in our entire year, you must be very proud of him." Harry mused lightly which drew a smile from Narcissa, though Lucius simply nodded his head.

"Of course, he is MY son after all. And please, call me Lucius; any friend of my son is a friend of mine." Lucius drawled as he watched Draco release a crescent of azure energy which exploded against the crimson statue and sent it tumbling around twenty feet away from the boy, 'her' right arm shattering into a stub after she slammed heavily into one of Harry's Dumb Apple trees.

"That's enough Draco; it is obvious you have progressed nicely since you have left for winter solstice. I will be upping the difficulty in the near future, so continue to progress at this rate and you won't have a problem." Harry called out as he stomped his right foot, sending a massive pulse of earth chakra to consume the crimson statue and the many shards of crystal left behind. The statuette appeared out of the earth in front of Harry in perfect condition, causing Draco to blanch at seeing his work all for naught.

Lucius was a bit baffled by the small display, having not seen magic like that outside of Orochimaru's use when he helped transfer the entire Malfoy manor to the Asylum, leaving their previous ancestral home Unplottable so that they could return after Dumbledore lay defeated.

Harry sighed as he resealed the crimson statue in his arm with another pulse of chakra after pressing the appendage to the statue, his hands still numb and useless from the most recent operation.

'Wandless levitation charms are useful for more than just entertainment. I wouldn't have survived the gathering without them.' Harry thought to himself as he levitated a small vial of golden elixir to his lips after pain continued to lance through his hands.

The Malfoy Patriarch nodded silently as his son walked to his side, Narcissa wrapping her arms around his shoulders once he was close enough. "You shouldn't do things like that without letting your parents know where you are going, Draco! You scared us!" The woman crowed as she pulled her son into a tight embrace.

Draco grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath while he was dotted on by his mother, Harry grinning the entire time much to the blond boy's embarrassment. "Hush up, Potter, this isn't funny in the least. Mother, enough, please!" Draco practically shouted towards the end, his face shinning almost as red as the statues that Harry was so fond of.

Harry couldn't restrain the chuckle that slipped through his lips as he watched his friend practically get groomed by his overbearing mother, causing Draco to start grumbling under his breath again while steadily blushing. "Sorry, Draco, I couldn't resist. The look on your face is priceless."

Lucius broke the sniggering with a slight cough, nodding his head to the black haired Sage. "We must be going now, thank you for the most interesting display, Harry. Goodnight." And with that the three Malfoy's were off, leaving the boy to his own devices as his two body guard clones jumped from the tree tops once the family of three was out of eyesight.

"Good job on staying hidden, very good job indeed. The Malfoy's didn't notice a thing. Well, let us be off, I need to rest for a few hours." Harry drawled as he took off in a brisk walk towards his room inside of the Chapel, some few hundred feet away from where he was presently. He needed to rest much more than he let on, the operation having really taken its toll on him thanks to the constant chakra being pumped into his hands.

Tomorrow he would concentrate on creating his own clone network like Orochimaru's, already thinking of the ways he could further cultivate a hidden village in close proximity of the Forbidden Forest and still remain anonymous when dealing with Dumbledore or any of his classmates. For now, he was going to heal his wounds and begin researching into creating new techniques to add to his already massive repertoire of skills.


	10. Broken Peace

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 10, Broken peace

I do not own anything pertaining to Harry Potter, Naruto, Dark Souls or anything else I might borrow ideas from

AN:/ I apologize for getting the time line a bit muddied in the last chapter, I will explain it a bit more in this chapter. Harry's grip of time is slightly different than the rest of the world thanks to his extended stay in Izalith. (Izalith as in the Izalith/Demon Ruins from Dark Souls)

Voldemort is more just building his army right now from the ground up once he has cut the useless members from his initial Death Eaters. Once get gets enough members involved using the Akatsuki and Inner Circle, he will start expanding his army to include another large assortment of dark creatures, and right now he has only a select few under his control.

The last area of Dark Souls is The Kiln of the First Flame. It's the vitrified coliseum for those who have no knowledge of Dark Souls. After this chapter or the next, there will be no more introductions to concepts and areas from that game.

While Harry and Voldemort are powerful, no doubt able to kill a mere demon, Albus is pretty much on par with Gwen when he was in his prime. Something beyond the pale. If he was able to fling over one thousand Sunlight Spears within the span of a second, I can safely say Harry still does not stand a chance, no matter if he could kill a rather easy demon.

=+FoStA+=

It was December 25th and Harry was finally glad to be rid of the bandages that covered his now fully recovered hands. He immediately began the process of reverse engineering multiple techniques using his already expansive Mokuton creations as a base, though he was only capable of creating a small senbon needle that was extremely unbalanced despite all of his effort.

Harry would not let himself be detracted from his progress, despite how difficult his undertaking might be. Hermione had asked him to have 'Christmas' dinner with her family, much to his both dismay and delight. Dismay because he would have to wear muggle clothing and 'blend in' so to speak, having grown extremely comfortable with his apparel but knew that he must make 'sacrifices' to succeed in life and friendship.

Harry was tempted to ask Bellatrix for assistance in clothes shopping but stopped short when he remembered just how much the woman loved shopping. Harry shuddered at the thought, remembering an incident that occurred just outside of the town they set up base for when they took their huge assassination mission.

It was a calm day for Harry, at least at the beginning of it. Bellatrix was growing impatient with the crowd that seemingly always moved itself directly in her path when she would try to slip by the many mulling folks that went about their daily business, infuriating the woman to the point where Harry had to stop her from killing a large number of civilians with a Bombarda spell or an explosive tag.

Bellatrix eventually pulled Harry into an unassuming shop where clothes of a darker fashion lined the walls. The demented woman immediately fell in love with the apparel and made Harry be her personal shopping bag to carry the many different outfits the woman purchased. 'Hn. Should have figured her for the dominatrix type.' Harry remembered thinking to himself as he broke away from his reverie.

A quick apparition found the boy shuffling amongst the crowd of muggle London, the streets bustling with life and energy despite the terrible shape world relation were in. Harry observed multiple Hitwizards mulling about the crowd under either heavy disillusionment charms or using muggle clothes to blend in thanks to his mutated Sharingan. The magic practically poured off of the many wizards and witches like a thick smoke, indicating their terrible control over their own energies.

A quick consultation with Hermione on clothing advise left the boys head spinning, having pulled out his two way mirror to speak with her after finding a large clothing store that didn't give him the creeps. Most of the female shopkeepers that saw him would gawk and stare, some even having the courage to try and drag him away to play 'dress up'. A few substitutions later and Harry found himself in a quaint little shop just outside of the Victoria station, which was bombed much earlier that year by the IRA.

The organization that owed allegiance to an as of yet named Wizard who made Harry's hit-list after the incident, though the man had yet to leave even a shred of evidence on his existence.

"Welcome to the Bizarre, how may I help you… sir?" The young lady behind the desk questioned as she noticed the long black hair and slim frame before registering that Harry was male. The boy scoffed before giving her a slight glare at her obvious mishap.

"No, not quite yet ma'am, I will be with you shortly with my purchases." Harry ground out as he began to browse the many articles of clothing that hung from the multiple racks around the room. Most of the clothing was of a darker design and coloring much like the clothes that Bellatrix was so fond of, though Harry didn't mind in the slightest. 'I am sure as hell not going to go around wearing cream colored robes, that is for certain.'

Harry finally decided on a black suit with an emerald green dress shirt and silver tie. Black loafers covered his feet, something that bothered him to no end. 'These shoes have no traction, let alone stability or flexibility.' Harry mourned as he paid for his purchases forlornly, not wanting to waste money on such trivial things that he could have conjured himself.

"Have a good day… Ma'am!" The clerk called out once Harry was halfway through the door, causing him to stop midway through his step. He turned slowly to eye the sneering woman with the most hateful look he could administer before he flared his killing intent to its maximum level. The woman immediately crumpled into unconsciousness after screaming loudly, causing Harry to resume his path out of the terrible store with a pleased grin on his face.

'She got what she deserved, the spiteful bi-' Harry cut himself off and scolded himself for getting worked up by such an insignificant person. 'I must be losing my touch.' The black haired boy murmured to himself as he shoved passed a rather lanky man after he attempted to step into the boys way.

It was a Hit wizard in disguise, the man having recognized Harry from the many pictures of the youth already in circulation by the Daily Prophet after a few of his class mates let it leak to their parents that he was still amongst the living. Popular consensus was that the boy was a budding Dark Lord who was bent on world domination after Rita Skeeter discovered that the boy was sorted into Slytherin. While she was technically correct on the fact that he was a budding Dark Lord, he was not going to let her know that too early on in the game.

Harry doubted any amount of good faith on his part would change the woman's opinion of him, let alone the many Dumbledore supporters that no doubt flocked under Neville being the boy who lived theory despite the fact that Harry was the one marked equal. 'Well, under Dumbledores guidance, Neville COULD be considered Toms equal thanks to both of them being students of Albus's.'

A light Legilimency scan on the man's mind left Harry feeling lightheaded, much as he felt when he scanned the minds of those under the Thrall effect. While he was unable to glean any useful information from the man, he was more than possitive from the feedback received that he was under the direct control of Dumbledore.

'Oh well, nothing a little bit of Genjutsu wont fix.' Harry thought to himself before grabbing the man roughly by the shoulders and dragging him into a nearby alley way.

=+FoStA+=

Albus seethed as he stared down at the groveling man before him, the headmaster now located deep within his palace far removed from the Hogwarts castle. Only those of his own personal forces knew of the castles existence as well as Grindlewald and his troops. The man reported the incident that occurred in downtown London and was not happy in the slightest with the man's brazen move.

The man was already in rough shape before being confronted by Harry, but afterwards the man was almost catatonic. His mind had been almost shredded by the effects of over-exposure to ligilimency probes of particular power. That let Albus immediately know that A, Harry was a powerful wizard indeed to be skilled in Legilimency before the end of his first year and B, that Harry was now aware that Albus was gathering a large force of Wizards and Witches from around the world, though he was unaware of the reason.

The elderly man roared as a pillar of flames rose from the ground and consumed the man quicker than the blink of an eye. Ashes scared the once ivory surface of the gleaming chambers that Albus currently occupied, the only remnant of the failure left to the world. With a twitch of his nose the stain vanished from the world as the 'grandfatherly' man rose from his throne.

"Let this be a lesson to the rest of you. Do not make the mistake this pathetic man made and you will live." And with a wave of his hand, the hundreds of men gathered in the large chamber departed two by two through the large double doors at the far end of the room. Gellert appeared out of thin air as he stowed away his invisibility cloak, wrapping his arms lovingly around the other man's shoulders.

"Calm down, you know they will not remain loyal if you kill them for each and every mistake. Rule through compassion, not fear. You know better than that!" Grindlewald admonished as he removed himself from behind Dumbledore.

"Your project worked wonderfully, Gellert, I feel better now than I have in decades. This body is truly marvelous; I doubt I could have controlled my inferno so well in my birth body even during my prime." Dumbledore cooed as he beckoned his old lover to follow him from the room. Once the two were alone, they both dropped their illusions to reveal that they no longer were wrinkly old men, each having the body of a man just entering his prime.

Albus's beard and hair was no longer the shiny gray that most were accustomed to seeing, now an auburn brown that complimented the man's icy blue eyes. Flawless skin the color of light bronze was distinct compared to his usually pale complexion. The mad man had started wearing red and black robes as he once did in his youth, no longer wearing the colorful rags that he used to make others think he was of the Light.

Gellert had a full head of black hair with extremely pale skin, pale enough to give Harry, Orochimaru and Voldemort a run for their money. The previous Dark Lord was clean shaven and sharply dressed with no distinct flair or fashion, indicating his lack of interest in clothing or looks, being more of a scientist than a role model like one Gilderoy Lockhart.

The two continued to talk as they walked about their private rooms, discussing current problems that the two would need to immediately see to solving. "America is no longer under our control, sure, but we can still manipulate the remains of the USSR. Start funneling funds into increasing the arms production and development of our armada and army, I fear that someone else has been doing the same for the colonies for months now." Albus rattled out as he went through the list of the many problems the two must solve.

"Of course, that should be easy enough if the USSR's arm production wasn't already under someone elses control. Who do you think swayed my pet project after Nazi Germany further away from us?" Gellert asked as he flipped through the many documents that needed either his or Albus's signature to go into effect.

Dumbledore looked up from his list with a sad gaze. "Orochimaru. I think the man has infiltrated Hogwarts and is currently running a smear campaign against me using pranks and illusions. I have yet to catch him, but this very strange energy has been hanging thickly in the air since the beginning of this year."

Gellert looked a bit shocked at his lovers' admittance. "Strange energy? Like our Crystal Sorceries, or something else altogether?" the black haired man asked quickly as he put the stack of paperwork in his hands down at once.

"Something else altogether, it has a slight twinge to it that feels like magic, but the rest of it is… so foreign it could almost be called alien." Albus answered as he pulled a large pipe from the inside of his robes, which he began to pack full of his 'special' tobacco. A flame appeared on the tip of his finger as he used it to light the plant, smoke filling the room quickly as he chiefed away on his pipe. Gellert was less than impressed with his lover but understood the need of the mundane plant that Albus was so fond of. 'If it keeps him calm, it is alright with me.'

Grindlewald let out a displeased tisk before handing Albus another stack of paperwork for him to sign, which the man did so without complaint as his focused eyes became slightly foggy. "That stuff smells much stronger than it used to…" Gellert mumbled as he cast a small wind spell to pull the smoke from the room as his body began to feel light.

"Oh yes, the Americans have discovered a new way to grow the plant using something they call 'hydo-pontics' or whatever it is they say. It is much stronger than it was during our day, that is for certain!" Albus choked out as he began to wheeze and cough, a pungent smell quickly taking over the entire room and the hallway beyond. The guards standing outside of their personal office began to feel light headed and started swaying on their feet, barely able to remain upright as they fell under the plants effect. After a few moments the two collapsed on themselves, snoring loudly as they succumbed to the sweet aroma.

"Albus, you really need to find something else to occupy your mind."

"I do what I want."

=+FoStA+=

It was a calm day in Japan, much more calm than it had been in a long time if the way people were smiling was anything to go by. Today was the day Orochimaru and his Troupe were to finish their first reactor on the island nation, thus removing Japan as one of the main contenders of Nuclear Power. The sound of a knife flying through the air caught the Sannin's attention as he withdrew a Kunai from his robe sleeve to deflect the foreign projectile.

Two shadowy figures emerged from the darkened alleys behind the sage, each bearing more sharp weapons of strange design. While close to the Kunai, these knives were significantly longer, more akin to a dagger than a knife. Traditional Shinobi garb was donned by his would be assailants, Black robes and facemask that completely concealed the two figures identity.

Orochimaru took note of the two quickly before he attempted to ensnare the two in an elaborate genjutsu. The two figures seemed to shrug off the illusion as they both burst into action, each dodging around two kunai and a brace of shuriken that the white snake had lobbed in their direction. Each of the shadowed warriors unsheathed the straight blades that were strapped across their backs while rushing at Orochimaru in a zigzag pattern.

'There are too many people around to use my more destructive techniques… why didn't the Genjutsu work?' The befuddled sage asked himself as he withdrew a kunai in each hand, blocking the sleek black blades with little effort. Sparks flew from the grinding metal as a loud grinding noise filled the air; the two men soon realized that a full frontal assault would not work on this opponent. Shadows lurched up from around the three and swallowed the two shrouded figures, the anti-light encroaching further upon the clone to consume him like the other two.

"Hmm, a very interesting magic technique. Too bad it falls short of glory." Orochimaru noted as he flew through three hand seals, the last being tiger while he pulled his right hand to his lips. His fingers made a complete circle around his mouth as he shouted, "Fuuton, Sonzai no Ma-Ni! (Lost between existence)"

This technique was someone Orochimaru had been working on independently of Harry and Tom now that he had Sage Chakra to power his body constantly, much more so than he did during his existence in the Elemental Nations.

Using a twinge of magic mixed actively with his chakra, the wind technique was capable of latching onto matter and shredding everything it clung to into oblivion, almost literally. The magic would allow the wind technique to stick to whatever the caster wanted it to stick to, though it was a somewhat slow moving technique in comparison to a few more lower ranking techniques.

An almost invisible cloud of churning winds burst from Orochimaru's mouth and easily grabbed hold of one of the 'Ninja' attacking him, reducing him to a fine red mist in a split second. The man didn't have time to scream before he died, though the highly compressed winds roared loud enough to drown out all sound near by.

If Orochimaru hadn't cast the silencing charm around the entire area around him, he was sure the civilians wandering about would have run in terror at the sound.

The unscathed warrior vanished in a cloud of smoke as soon as his team mate became vapor, most likely the use of an old smoke bomb as opposed to any magic technique as far as Itachi could tell.

'Tsk, what odd fellows. I have other things to do besides play with kids wielding pathetic parlor tricks and knives.' The Sannin thought before removing the red puddle finally settling on the ground with a cleaning charm and wandered out of the alley with nary a hair out of place.

Taking in the sights around him, Orochimaru had to admit it was a beautiful city indeed, with bustling folks going about their daily business with smiles plastered on their faces.

The Sannin was here on a "leisure trip" away from Asylum One, hoping to take in the native culture that he had so many memories of, despite being dimensions apart. It was almost mind boggling at how closely their native languages coincided with the language spoken by the Elemental Nations, completely identical to those who didn't know any better. The people of Japan spoke a more archaic version of the Shinobi language, though it was close enough that Orochi and Harry were easily adapted to the language as well as any native citizen with a perfect accent.

Orochimaru was broken from his thoughts as he finally arrived at his predetermined location, the large area where the Uzumaki-Uchiha clones were in the final stages of activating the Chakra Cores, the newest brainchild of Bellatrix and the White Snake. Denuclearization had gone splendidly, thus reducing the chance of an ELE occurring by radiation exposure.

The nuclear rods that were used to power the deadly generators were sealed away into a permanent sealing matrix, only for the seals to be purposefully destabilized so that the material sealed within would be lost in the void, not released back into the world after the seals finally dispersed themselves.

Riddle Reactor no.1 was now operational as a large clamor broke out from the surrounding area as a gathering of folks began to cheer at the success of completely breaking away from radioactive materials to support their power grid. Fireworks began to shoot off into the sky as hundreds gathered to celebrate the monumental day. The Sannin slinked away from the scene under the cover of Meseigakure, not wanting to be spotted by any of the mundane beings below him.

Already other projects with the country were underway, mostly dealing with Tsunami and earthquake relief points so that the country wouldn't go the way of Atlantis in a few short years due to the overactive fault line the country resided on.

Reinforcement of their power grid and cities would be the first of the ventures, followed by securing the coastal regions from being swept away by the large waves that would surely follow any major earthquake. Drain points were going to be the most important factor, allowing the flooding element to drain away from the streets and homes quickly.

Orochimaru sighed as he walked through the crowd after hopping down from the tree, only to continue to stick to the shadows despite being invisible. Everyone was much more jovial than he remembered seeing them just a few months ago when he proposed the switch from nuclear power to Nature Chakra powered cores that were easily renewable and in extreme abundance.

Children were playing in the street with family members nearby to keep an eye on them, most likely one of the first times the children were allowed to relax and congregate due to the authoritarian nature of most Japanese folk.

He wandered the streets for a few hours as the citizens resumed their normal schedule after the spontaneous celebration, listening to the discussions of many as he tried to deduce their feelings on the subject and other complications that needed solving.

=+FoStA+=

Harry was a nervous wreck. Despite his self-confidence, the boy was a bit scared to meet his friend's parents. Hermione had told him not to worry about it, but something in the back of his head told him that the meeting was a make or break situation. The Grangers' lived in a lovely home just outside of downtown London, a two story home constructed of white brick and oak. Their lawn was of exquisite quality, Fescue grass lining the earth and building while multiple rose bushes sprung up around the brick home, ranging from bright yellow to pale blue roses.

'I do not believe I have ever seen a rose quite like that before, how... odd.' Harry thought to himself while he gently rapped his knuckles against the Granger family's door. Banging noises and the sound of skittering feet broke Harry from his thoughts as Hermione flung the door open, gasping for breath slightly.

"Hello, Hermione. How are you today?" Harry asked with a smile on his face as he stepped back slightly to get a better view of the girl. She wore an ebony colored dress with silver and green accents with stockings reaching her thighs, almost matching Harry's state of dress perfectly if not for the gauntlets and grieves the girl still wore despite being home and away from danger. A pair of black silk gloves with strange symbols woven into the fabric stretched to the petite bushy-haired teens triceps, most likely worn to keep the metal gauntlets from resting upon bare skin.

The dress was of a modest design, though easily of high quality as he inspected the fabric with a critical eye that reached to just above her knees. 'Acromantula silk. Figures she wouldn't wear muggle clothing when she specifically told me to dress normally.'

"I am wonderful, Harry! Come on in, my parents have been waiting all day to meet you!" She practically laughed in relief as she reached out and gripped Harry's hand, pulling him into the home and slamming the door after looking left and right for something.

"Harry, someone has been watching my home for a few days now, but every time I try and spot them, they would disappear. I couldn't tell you over the mirror due to my parents being within ear shot. Can you do something, please?" The girl begged with desperation in her voice after stopping just inside the hallway. Harry seemed a bit shocked at the revelation before he nodded his head, summoning two clones with a pulse of his Chakra. The two ANBU masked clones nodded their heads before becoming invisible, each disappearing to set up a parameter around the nicely furnished home.

"Alright, those two should be able to spot the offender whenever they show themselves again. Do not worry your pretty little head, Hermione, your safe as long as my clones are on patrol." Harry murmured lowly as he squeezed her hand gently, though he doubted she could tell due to the thin but heavily protected gauntlets. Hermione smiled and blushed lightly at his words before nodding her head, pulling him into the living room where her parents were resting.

"Ah, you must be Harry! Come; let me get a good look at you!" Hermione's mother spoke up as she noticed the two enter the room at last. "My name is Emma, and this is Dan. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Hermione has spoken very highly of you." The now identified Emma Granger said as she rose from her seat on the couch.

Dan eyed the boy critically for a moment before a smile broke through his cold visage. "Come on now, don't be shy!" Dan grinned as he too rose to get a good look at Harry. The young boy blushed slightly at Emma's words before he gently removed his hand from Hermione's. Emma was a beautiful woman with bushy black hair and eyes the color of chestnut. Alabaster skin gave way to a sleek black dress that closely resembled the one Hermione was wearing, though it was a bit more… provocative than her daughters was.

Dan was a powerfully built man with golden locks of hair and eyes as blue as the sky. A standard black and white suit covered the man's body, though Harry could still see the dense muscles that made the suit bulge in all the right areas. His skin was slightly tanned like Hermione, indicating that he was the one to spend most of his free time in the garden and outside in the sunlight while the mother obviously took care of the inside of their home. Though Harry couldn't tell for certain, he was almost sure that Dan's ears were pointed like an elf, but that was impossible as far as the young sage knew.

"It is wonderful to finally meet you as well, Miss Emma, Mister Dan." Harry spoke as he lightly bowed at the waist, something that caused Emma and Dan to burst out laughing. "None of that now, dear, no need to be so formal! Please, sit, we are eager to hear from you!"

Harry nodded slightly before he took his place on the couch to the side of where Hermione's parents were sitting, his first friend sitting closely by his side. 'Why is she sitting so close…?'

"So, tell me about yourself Harry, Hermione told us a good bit but we would like to hear it from you." Dan ventured as he picked up his glass of wine from the side table, gently swirling it in his hand. Harry seemed a bit taken aback for a moment before he finally spoke up.

"Well, I am eleven years old and currently attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am a member of the Slytherin House as is your daughter. I enjoy exploring in my free time, and believe that the scientific process should be immediately introduced into the magical world, though it is doubtful they have the logic to use it." Harry listed off as he glanced around the room, trying to avoid eye contact with the Granger patriarch, something about the tanned man's eyes set him on edge.

The room was furnished nicely for a muggle home, cozy and quaint like one would want in a home. Dark varnished wood lined the walls and made up most of the furniture and the blinds were drawn closed, encasing the room in shadows that was only fought away with golden lamps that adorned the end tables.

A large fireplace with a stunningly crafted hearth rested in the center of the furthest wall from the hallway, producing enough heat to warm the entire front of the house easily thanks to the roaring inferno contained within its stone mouth.

Emma slightly cooed at Harry's admittance, lightly clapping her hands in delight. "Wonderful, you seem to be as intelligent as Hermione says you are! Aren't you the one who taught my little darling how to wield a blade and shield?" Emma asked as she took a sip of her wine. Harry was more than a little unnerved by the woman's question, but attempted to answer it in a placating way.

"Yes, Ma'am. With how dangerous some of the things we will encounter are, I thought it be prudent that Hermione know how to defend herself outside of simple sorceries that are taught to first years." Harry finally grounded out after taking a moment to think.

Dan and Emma looked at each other for a few seconds before they both nodded as if they bought his explanation. "She will not be getting into any direct conflicts, correct?" Dan asked as he walked to the fireplace to stoke the flame before placing a large oaken log into the roaring inferno.

"As far as I know, no Sir." Harry answered as he quickly came to the conclusion that coming to Hermione's home was a mistake. Hermione reached out and squeezed Harry's shoulder gently when she noticed him growing more and more tense as the questions continued.

"You know you don't have to worry about me, Dad! I can beat you at least half the time we spar!" Hermione quickly butted in, hoping to defuse the tension before it could reach a critical point. Emma sank back in her chair a bit at her daughters' words as though she was removing herself from the conversation.

Dan stilled at the fireplace as he looked into the flames, not turning to face the three others in his living room. "Be as that may, Hermione, you are still my daughter. I do not want you getting into any risky situations, period. Is that understood?" His tone was cold, but the well-meaning behind the words was not lost upon Harry or Hermione.

After the harsh words, Dan turned back to his family and Harry and began to socialize once again, progressing the night in a more positive manner than previously. After an hour of socializing, Harry passed out the gifts he had bought previously after unsealing them from his wrist. For Hermione the shinobi brewed her a small vial of Chakra serum, which he asked to explain to her later, as well as a few training manuals that Harry himself wrote on the Snake style sword techniques that he thought were worth passing on.

For Dan and Emma, Harry bought jewelry that was heavily enchanted by Bellatrix and himself to not only give the two of them powerful protective magics much like those that were present in Hermione's shield and robes, but also a 'good luck' charm so to speak to bring plentiful business to their dental office.

Hermione had gifted Harry with a few tomes of ancient lore as well as a few maps of antiquity that he might peruse to discover more of humanities most elder of secrets. The maps themselves came from Borgin and Burkes, thus likely invalidating their usefulness as far as exact accuracy goes but it was still of rather curious quality. The tomes however were gifted to Hermione by her mother Emma at a young age, which was passed unto her by her mother and so on. Harry was amazed at the amount of knowledge within the leather bound notes and profusely thanked Emma and Hermione for a chance to pour over the information within the time-worn pages.

Dan had simply given Harry a fifty pound note and told to get himself 'something nice', not knowing that Harry could easily purchase their home a thousand times over and still have money to spare. Nevertheless, Harry was grateful that the man would part with a large chunk of money by a child's standard for a boy he had only just met if only due to him being his daughters first real friend.

Dinner was a mostly quiet affair, the four eating their meals with contentment whilst listening to 'Christmas' music. Harry was less than amused by the mundanes' taste in music but did not speak on the issue seeing as Hermione was enjoying it immensely. Harry kept noticing the strange ways Emma would move and was more than certain that her skin was a pale bluish gray as opposed to pale when he glances at it out of the corner of his eye, and Dan was still sending him mixed looks as the conversation between the four continued.

It was as Harry was getting ready to leave that he knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. The two clones that he had posted outside of the house were popped by outside sources, which shouldn't have been possible due to where they had hidden themselves. All that Harry could discern from the fragmented memories is that his clones were blindsided by something that was moving too fast for him to get a good read on.

The windows all around the house began to rattle loudly as a thick fog began to seep from beneath the front door. All noise from the outside world faded away quickly, leaving the four in almost complete silence if not for the steady rattling of glass and the strange hissing noise that accompanied the fog.

Harry flared his chakra and summoned four clones, one for each of those present in the hallway leading to the front door. Emma and Dan were not as surprised as they should have been, Hermione's mother falling into a strange fighting stance while Dan quickly left into one of the back rooms, only to return with a strange sword and shield that screamed of elven craft.

The sword was made up of a thick golden blade that glimmered in the faint light while the handle was a royal blue in color. Starting at the center of the blade and going towards the tip, silver crescent moons were etched into the strange blade as well as what seemed to be twinkling stars.

His shield was larger than Hermione's by far and seemed so much more powerfully enchanted than anything Harry had ever laid eyes upon. A large pentagonal sheet of what looked like liquid silver was surrounded by a crimson border that had slight nicks and scratches in it. An old symbol for the sun was carved into the center of the silver shield; something that Harry thought suited the man who seemed to live his life in the outdoors.

Hermione quietly unsealed her own sword and shield, preparing herself for conflict while silently praying that everything turn out to be a false alarm. One moment she was standing still, waiting in consternation and the next she was being flung back by the clone that was summoned to guard her, away from the doorway which exploded into shrapnel suddenly. Harry took the brunt of the attack after reinforcing his body with Doton chakra to harden his skin, thus negating the majority of the damage he would have received if he hadn't.

Emma began to fling azure bolts of energy from her hands into the gaping hole where her doorway once was, striking a cloaked figure twice in the chest as it appeared through the fog that threatened to ensnare the entire house in its cold grip. The four ANBU clones were steadily lobbing Futon enhanced Kunai into the figures as they appeared, only for them to disappear after folding in on themselves.

Dan rushed forward and slammed the silver shield into the skull of one of the cloaked creatures, only to quickly follow up his attack by slicing straight down the middle of the creature with his golden straight sword. It was only after Dan bashed the creature in the head with his shield that Harry was able to get a good look at their attackers, and it would be something that would haunt him until the end of his days.

A skull as black as night stared back at Harry for a moment with baleful orbs of crimson before the demonic figure was slain by the Granger Patriarch, the white robe surrounding it collapsing inwards like all of its other fallen comrades. More and more of the phantasmal skeletons poured into the breached entrance, causing the four living beings to fall back into the living room as Harry flipped through a set of handseals.

"Mokuton, Sekai no Kirisuto Koutan!" (Wood style, protective world of nativity) Harry shouted as three branches of thick white wood broke through the tile flooring, completely blocking the large entrance the skeletons were using. Hundreds of small arms sprung from the wooden beams and wrapped around one another before locking themselves into place, barricading the four further from harm.

Hermione collected herself quickly after watching her mother, father and friend slay the foul creatures left and right, finally able to shake off the shock that set in after being flung away from death by the clone of Harry.

"What is going on here?!" The bushy haired girl screamed as the white cloaked demons began to phase through the wooden tendrils like they weren't even there. Harry could only watch in horror as one of the spirits shot its hand towards Dan who raised his shield to block the white dagger that was tightly grasped by the skeleton. The phantasmal arm phased through the shield and attempted to plunge it deep into Dan's chest if not for quick thinking on his part. The blond man fell backwards stiffly to dodge the blade, rolling away from the weapon and its wielder once his body was low enough to the ground thanks to his free-fall.

Harry attempted to use his Mokuton techniques against the creatures only for it to seemingly swipe away the floating cloaked figures midsections in a tuft of mist which quickly coalesced back into its rightful spot. Emma continued to shoot lances of blue magics at the creatures, downing them left and right as Dan continued to swipe away with his gilded sword. The only part of the blade that seemed to damage the phantoms was the section that was decorated by the lunar crescents Harry quickly noted after his wand slipped into his hand.

The sage quickly pushed as much Chakra as he could into his eyes to activate the bastardized sharingan in an attempt to gather as much information about the skeletons and their attacks as he could. Each of the creatures seemed to be tied to an outside source by a small thread of magic about the width of most ninja wire. "Cepto Ververe! (Severing Lash)" Harry intoned as he waved his wand in an intricate motion. Eight beams of dull white appeared in the air around the young wizard before shooting towards each of the phantoms that entered the room.

The puppet skeletons faded into mist after the neutral wave of cutting energy severed the connection between them and their puppeteer. The room fell eerily silent once more as the sound of continuous dripping rang out through the partially destroyed home. A shrill creaking noise began to emit from the fog that still poured through the small gaps in the wooden construct blocking the entrance of the home from being breached once more.

Dan and Emma immediately grabbed Hermione and pulled her behind them as they readied themselves once more for conflict. The girl attempted to protest only for Harry, Emma and Dan to send her frigid glares that told her to shut up. More clones phased into existence around the room, each going through handseals before placing their palms on the ground.

The name of the technique was not spoken aloud as branches of white oak covered the windows around the room from being penetrated by any physical entry. The sound of wood being hacked away at broke the momentary silence, causing Hermione to jump with fright as a bright orange flame erupted around the black longsword in her grasp.

A translucent purple blade tore through the conjoined hands crafted from wood before a glowing amethyst eye peered through the gap produced by the blade. Harry felt a chill crawl up and down his spine as he prepared himself for another round of conflict. Anti-apparition wards were already up in place and if his assumption was correct, he would only have an extremely brief window of opportunity to evacuate Hermione and her parents away from the wreckage of their home.

'I am thankful that they can hold their own in combat, at least I am not going to have to babysit useless fools.' Harry thought to himself as he unsealed a single kunai from his wrist, holding it tightly in his left hand while his right held his illegally procured wand. The sound of hacking wood filled the air again and soon enough, Dan spoke to break the tension. "I count five different rhythms'; do you think you can handle two of them by yourself, Harry?"

"We will just have to find out, now wont we?" Harry probed as he forced himself not to snap at the casual question. 'Who the hell does this guy think he is?' Harry questioned in his mind as he shook his head in exasperation.

The wooden tendrils fell away soon enough as five large beings entered the living room quickly. A hood that seemed to be made of fur covered the faces of the warriors completely, though Harry could tell that they were most likely skeletal like the spirits they had fought against. Large plates of white metal crafted to look like bone protected the chest and stomach of the foul humanoids while pauldrons crafted of black metal covered their shoulders. Their waist and lower bodies were concealed by black trousers with grieves and kneepads covering their more vital areas. Double edged blades of old roman design were closely clutched in the dark wraiths grasp, causing Harry to groan at the ridiculous size of the swords.

"Alright, I do not think this is a good idea." Harry admitted as he stowed away his wand while withdrawing another kunai while pumping a steady amount of Futon chakra into each knife to lengthen them dramatically. The first of the warriors rushed forward in a blind rush while swinging its purple and black blade wildly, almost clipping Harry as he blocked with one kunai and stabbed with the other.

The skeletal warrior raised its empty hand with its palm facing Harry as a large shield of chaotic energies sprung into existence, blocking the wind blade that would have ran it through. Harry cursed and attempted to disarm the creature by attacking its forearm, only for the chakra blade to clink off the armor without leaving so much as a scratch.

"Doton, Doyryuheki!" Harry murmured lowly as three miniature dragons made of mud rose from the ruined tile floor while spitting spheres of hard stone at the skeletal warriors that breached the wooden barrier. Only one of the strange creatures was killed by the attack, but it was enough for Harry to get a bit more breathing room. 'I am rather thankful that becoming skilled with Mokuton techniques also worked on my Doton techniques.'

Emma was holding her own with a conjured sword the same shade as the magic she was firing off earlier while Dan had killed one of his opponents and was working on his second. Hermione stood prepared in case any of the warriors broke away from the three protecting her, fear clearly evident in her eyes. She clutched her shield tightly while her blade was held deftly in her right hand, still burning with orange flames that licked hungrily away at the air.

Harry stomped his foot on the ground as he launched one of the kunai in his hand, tendrils of wood shooting from the ground to ensnare the warrior and hold him steady. The sneak attack was successful as roots wrapped themselves tightly around the skull of the demon, allowing the wind coated kunai to enter deep into its eye socket and into its brain, ending its life instantly.

The Granger Paterfamilias Spun on his right foot while holding his blade away from him, breaking through the final skeletal warriors guard long enough for Harry to launch a kunai into its skull like he did his own. Dan and Emma fell back and surrounded their daughter while Harry once again reinforced the room long enough to summon three extra shadow clones.

"Alright, I am going to evacuate us from the premise. Hold still while the clones help you out of this mess!" Harry shouted over the cacophony of more swords slamming into the wooden barricades. The Grangers nodded their heads slowly as each clone wrapped their arms around their passengers waist before diving into the earth using the hiding like a mole technique due to the anti-apparition wards in place around the home.

After confirming that the three made it out of the wreckage, Harry sealed away the bodies of the fallen skeleton warriors as well as their weapons for later study before he himself dove into the earth, but not before hearing an ominous laugh that was extremely familiar to him. 'Why do I have the feeling that this ambush was because of my presence?' Harry asked himself as he traveled through the chakra-laden earth with extreme speed, easily catching up to the retreating family before sending a message to his clones that it was safe to surface.

The clones dove back into the earth to make their way back to the house with a few more squads as reinforcement after Harry confirmed that everyone was alright, if just exhausted. Hermione was a nervous wreck while Emma and Dan scanned their surroundings after regaining their bearings. "That has to be one of the strangest techniques I have ever seen." Dan spoke as he flicked a clump of mud from his shoulder.

Harry shrugged before replying. "It is extremely useful in tight situations like this one. I can apparate us the rest of the way back to my home if that is alright with you, I do not feel like waiting to see if those skeletons can catch up to us."

Dan and Emma nodded and gathered closer to Harry so the tall preteen could wrap his arms far enough around the three Grangers before the four disappeared in a loud pop. Tom and Bellatrix were waiting at the Apparition port for the four, concerned over the health of the Heir of Voldemort. Harry led the three to the infirmary to go over their wounds before supplying them with a large room in the completely converted mental hospitals.

After sending a mental evaluation over his link with Tom, the man broke away and continued to deal with the ambassador of the Dracul clan, the vampires currently aligning themselves with Voldemort due to his control over the countries they resided in.

"This has been one of the longest days of my life." Harry admitted when he and Bellatrix were finally alone, the woman staring down the boy with an unreadable expression. Harry stared back at her for a moment before his eyes quickly darted to the left, breaking away from her hypnotic gaze.

"What are you upset with me about now, Bellatrix?" Harry asked as he walked behind a thin standing screen so he could change out of his sweat soaked clothes in peace. The woman didn't answer right away, instead shuffling to the bed where she clutched a pillow close to her chest.

"I am upset that you didn't let me know you were in trouble, Master. I am supposed to be your left hand, I am supposed to protect you with my life, yet I only know your life is in danger when it was too late for me to help." Bella admitted with a huff, though Harry pretended she hadn't acted in a rude manner.

Harry listened to her words however and began to carefully formulate a reply that wouldn't upset the woman further. "I thought I had it under control, Bellatrix. I'm sorry for not contacting you earlier, but at the time the situation didn't call for backup." The boy confessed as he walked from behind the screen to the bed before laying down heavily. Bellatrix rolled over and wrapped her arms around the boys waist while pulling him closer to her warm embrace.

"It is alright, Harry. Just don't do it again." Bellatrix murmured into his chest as her eyes closed slowly. Soon the two were sleeping heavily, enjoying their much needed rest after such a stressful day in the life of an Akatsuki member, let alone Heir to the Dark Lord.

They were unaware of the plot against their very lives that was being formulated by different factions all around the world.


	11. Twilit Ascension

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 11, Twilit Ascension

I do not own ANYTHING related to Harry Potter, Naruto or anything else I might use ideas from.

AN:/ I am sorry that it has taken me since February to upload a new chapter, but I've had my muse occupied by other stories.

To make it up to you, I will try to make this chapter as content-packed as wizardly possible.

There is going to be introduction of a few different concepts in this chapter, and I am sure many of you will recognize a few of these references.

**=+FoStA+=**

Harry groaned and rolled out of his rather spacious bed with nary a whimper, clutching his chest loosely as he felt his low reserves of chakra being filled at a somewhat rapid pace. The darkened room was devoid of life outside of the strange wooden snakes that slithered around the many branches jutting out of the walls, though Harry chose to ignore his first non-organic created life forms in order to get dressed in a set of black dress robes with a crimson obi belt to hold them closed.

The lack of Bellatrix hounding him the moment he woke up was the first thing that set off the warning bells in his mind, though the sleep still fogging his mindscape disallowed the boy to think on it further. Using a bit of wandless magic, Harry summoned a chakra replenishing potion and a pepper-up potion before downing one after the other, enjoying the hint of strawberry and cherry left behind as opposed to the horrid taste of the potions made by the many medi-witches dotting the country side.

"Bellatrix, where are you?" Harry called out as he finished arming himself with a few braces of kunai, senbon and a back-up chokuto. While not made of the highest quality metal in the world, the strangely shaped Asian blade was more than enough for the enemies the boy had made, though the Potter doubted that any would dare step foot upon his miniature hidden village if they didn't know of its existence already.

A rasp at the door in a pattern that Harry didn't recognize startled the growing Dark Lord, causing him to fling a senbon needle coated in wind chakra through one portion of the wall, pinning the person on the other side to the other side of the hallway. The Potter scion threw his door open and pressed his Chokuto to the throat of the masked figure, who was still reeling in shock at seeing the boy react so quickly.

"Wait! Please, Bellatrix sent me to get you! I swear!" The masked man bellowed, holding his hands out in a show of coming in peace.

'Of course I forget that we have guests at the compound, especially Hermione and her parents. Better apologize now before I scare off even more potential allies.' Harry thought to himself while smirking at the shaken Death Eater sent to retrieve him. "You get to live another day then, Bishop." Harry finally spoke before turning on his heels to leave, not bothering to remove the senbon needle that pinned the wizards robe to the hallway leading to his room.

**+=FoStA=+**

To say Dan and Emma were shocked when the many pink pedaled trees sprang to life was a major understatement. After the hell of a night the two just went through with only their daughter and her friend as backup, well…. Needless to say, the two were overly paranoid about the entire situation.

Bellatrix simply shot them both a disarming grin as she wiped a small splash of tea from her face, her body having jolted once she felt Harry enter the area she currently resided in. The small jolt of chakra was to confirm that those present were who they said they were, allowing Akatsuki members to deduce who was who in case disguised wizards under polyjuice decided to attempt to infiltrate Asylum One.

"Thank you for calming them down, Bellatrix, this makes explaining the situation much easier." Harry spoke as he flickered into existence around the four gathered people. Hermione had already gotten used to Harry's disappearing and reappearing trick, as had Bellatrix but Dan and Emma were not quite prepared for it.

"Just how did you do that?" Dan questioned with barely disguised awe, having never seen someone just appear out of thin air, despite being teleported by the young man just the night before. The two seemed far too different to be similar, as one you disappeared in a pop while Harry just suddenly appeared.

"Just how do you have pointed ears?" Harry questioned back with a grin on his face, letting the man know that he wasn't trying to pick on the man by asking. Dan merely shrugged before returning to his breakfast, seemingly not willing to part with the information just yet. Hermione looked confused, looking to Harry with a questioning look on her face. "Pointed ears? My father does not have pointed ears, what are you talking about Harry?"

Harry shook his head in the negative before conjuring a porcelain cup to fill with the refreshing tea Bellatrix always brewed for breakfast, indicating that he wouldn't answer either question presently. A simple fried egg placed atop a piece of toast was all Harry ate for breakfast, forgoing the strips of bacon Hermione and a few muggleborns seemed to enjoy the most.

"How are you enjoying your stay so far?" Harry questioned, only to scoff at the three blank gazes being sent his way. "It is polite to answer rather than glare." Harry shortly stated before returning to sip his tea, trying his best to ignore the looks being exchanged by his three guests.

"As well as we can, Harry, last night just proved to be a shock for all of us." Dan finally answered after having a short conversation between himself and his wife through a few short glances. The blond haired man tore his eyes from his wife to stare directly into the emerald green orbs peering at him from across the table. "Thank you for helping protect my family last night, Harry, we all appreciate it more than you know."

Harry brushed off the praise without batting a lash, having grown used to combat by now thanks to his time exploring the Forbidden Forest and the ruins hidden in the massive wooded region."I am sure you would have done the same for myself, though I have to say I am surprised that... dentists, were able to keep up with myself in combat."

Emma and Dan shared another short glance before each turned their gaze to their food, seemingly not willing to answer the unasked question. Hermione was staring at her parents with a piercing stare before she brushed off their silence. "So this is where you live, Harry? Would you mind giving me a tour?"

The Heir of Voldemort looked as if he were considering answering in the negative before his first real friend started giving him the puppy-dog eyes, something Orochimaru had been a victim of many times thanks to Tsunade and her drinking habits. She would always beg for him to go to bars with her during their youth, while the boy would always try his best to get out of it. Jiraiya would, of course, offer to go with the Senju though she would always shut him down rather violently.

"Fine, fine, I can give you all a tour of the area surrounding, though I have business to attend to in light of last nights attack." Harry finally answered while rising from his seated position at his kitchen table, leaving the mess to the house elves recently acquired to take care of the mess for him.

Bellatrix rose at once while beconning for Orochimaru to step from the shadows to report on his findings. When the two parents of Hermione passed out due to the stress of the attack and a well placed sleeping spell, Orochimaru was able to collect a vial of blood from the three Grangers to run an analysis and confirm Harry's and his suspicion.

"They are not human, not in the fullest sense that we have grown to know," Orochimaru began, looking torn between finishing the last part, "It seems as though the wizards and these... people are distantly related, though our genes that allow us to control magic are much different than theirs."

Bellatrix rose a brow at the initial report and waved her hand for Orochimaru to elaborate, which he did quickly. "There is much more to Witches, Wizards and whatever the Grangers are than we have been led to believe. My theory is that an advanced race, at some point within the last fifteen thousand years, has been bred thoroughly into the human race and further diminished."

The recently widowed Black merely pulled her chair back out and plopped down heavily, a sigh escaping her lips as she did. "Orochi, we, as in the Blacks, have legends that corroborate your theory, though with more mysticism and less science behind it. Would you like to take a look?"

**-FOSTA-**

"This is my own laboratory, where I conduct medical and scientific research. Most of these projects are close secrets of mine, though I can demonstrate one of my most recent creations." Harry grinned as he waved his arms in a grandiose fashion the moment he flung his doors open, allowing the Grangers to peek into the mind of a mad man.

Sleek white machines lined the back walls with digitized screens running through scripts of coding and scientific algorithms at an extremely rapid pace, fast enough to give Hermione a headache just trying to solve some of the problems that flashed across the screen.

"This machine here, is my SpellCrafter," Harry began, summoning a projected holographic keyboard with a wave of his hand before he began typing away at the seemingly solid keyboard, "Where I run arithmetic sequencing to discover each and every possible spell combination possible."

Hermione was floored at the revealing of Harry's project, soon salivating at the thought of what she could do with such a machine. "You mean to tell me, that YOU, have a machine that can create spells using the same process we magicals do?"

Harry nodded his head in confirmation before typing in another command, bringing up a list of spells recently created and a larger list of those currently being worked on. As Harry had yet to begin to scroll through the large list of newly created spells, many of them remained unnamed except with a basic description next to the number designated to the spell when configured.

"Creation of Pocket Dimensions... that sounds rather useful..." Harry mumbled as he brought up the spell to one of the larger screens connected to the silent running machine. A large equation was broad-casted along the top of the screen, followed by the wand movement or pattern you would need to weave the magic to use, followed by a more detailed description of the spell created.

The wand movement was more complicated than possible to cast quickly, which let Harry know that this was one of the spells he would need to wandlessly cast slowly. The point of the spell was to access the ambient magic within the pocket dimension and then store it away for use, though the capacity at which the energy would form was far too much to be used on just any medium.

'These could EASILY replace the chakra cores currently being used in the reactors... this much energy could power all of my labs for... thousands of years.' Harry thought, quickly printing out the information provided by the masterfully crafted piece of technology.

"This changes things. So, shall we continue on our tour?" Harry questioned, though the Grangers could tell the gears were turning in his head at the spell shown by the machine, though Dan and Emma had no idea why a simple pocket dimension would be so useful considering Hermione's own bottomless bag was pretty much the same thing.

Hermione, on the other hand, immediately understood what the description of the spell was talking about even if she didn't know much of the science behind it. "I hope you aren't planning on experimenting without proper safety, Harry, that seems to be a complex piece of magic..."

Harry turned to his first real friend and gave her a dazzling smile, one that put any she had seen to shame. "This is child's play compared to what I am going to do afterwards."

"And what exactly are you planning on doing?" Hermione persisted with her questioning, seemingly becoming exasperated by Harry's clear lack of fear, or self preservation instincts.

Harry paused and seemed to ponder the question for a moment, raising a cupped hand to his jaw to stroke a non-existent beard.

"I am going to create a power source that will never run dry."

Dan, Emma and Hermione seemed to pause as well, each looking at each other as if asking for confirmation that they did indeed hear what they think they just heard.

"Unlimited Energy?" Dan questioned with a slow tone, making it obvious that it was a question rather than a statement.

Harry shrugged his shoulders before beckoning them to continue following along their path. "As close to it as you can get, I suppose. It shall take a bit of research and maybe a million failures, but it is possible."

Emma and Hermione shared a look while Dan grinned happily at the way Harry answered his question. "Spoken like a true scientist, Harry."

"Thank you, Dan. Now how would you three like to see a genetically engineered basilisk?" Harry questioned while opening a door not very far from his lab, though this one was of lower quality.

Hermione raised her hand and almost began bouncing on her toes, having seen Harry summon a serpent by placing his palm on the ground multiple times, which he explained was a way to summon the smaller snakes he had 'bred'.

The four found themselves standing in a large room filled with plant life and foliage, a bustling forest within a largely expanded room. After using expansion charms on the entire area to stretch its capacity to fifty times its original size, Harry began using his Mokuton techniques to grow enough plant life to make a snake as large as his later creations comfortable while also having its own small ecosystem.

Harry was the only one capable of removing the serpents from the room due to them being bound to him by an artificial summoning contract as well as cleverly placed charms on the room that prevented the snakes from leaving through any means besides chakra summoning.

Most of the serpents in the room were contracted to Harry exclusively, thus preventing Tom and Bellatrix from summoning any of the mightier creatures confined within the large forest area.

"Holy cow Harry, how did you get a forest in here?" Hermione questioned while staring at the plant life in wonder, having never seen any of these types of trees or fauna before in her life, whether it be muggle or magical.

"I grew it from the ground up, of course." Harry stated while shrugging his shoulders. After hissing under his breath a bit, a large white snake with a sealed blindfold over its eyes rose from the treeline, greeting its master with a massive hiss back.

Dan, Emma and Hermione jumped back in fright while Dan let out the girliest shriek Harry had ever heard, causing the boy to burst out laughing like a maniac. After a few moments of laughing and clutching his ribs, Harry hissed at the snake clearly, allowing the three Grangers to hear him as he did so, before the snake lowered its head for Harry to pet.

"This is Shiva, one of my newest breeds of snakes. I call her a basilisk for lack of a better name of her breed currently. While a basilisk has a gaze that can kill if you look it in the eyes, or petrify if you only catch a glimpse of it through reflective means, it can still be killed by the caw of a rooster." Harry began while softly stroking the crown of the newly dubbed Shiva.

"Shiva here does not have that weakness. Her intelligence is easily on par with your own, though she lacks the maturity for human speech right now as she is only still a new-born. I am able to currently communicate with her through use of Parseltongue, which is a genetic ability that allows me to communicate with any serpent in existence, that I know of at least." Harry finished while Shiva began to rub her massive head against him to get him to continue petting her.

Hermione was the first to break out of her stupor and slowly stepped forward, looking to Harry for permission to get closer. Harry nodded his head and whispered for Shiva to play nice for his first friend.

After what seemed like hours of studying the massive snakes and dragon-like reptiles that roamed the expanded forest, Dan and Emma were starting to feel far more comfortable in Harry's presence. Dan was the first to break the silence, asking to speak to Harry in private for a few moments.

Harry obliged the man and followed him into the treeline after leaving Shiva instructions to let Emma and Hermione ride her back to the entrance of the forest. Dan looked uncomfortable about what he was about to say and ask, but Harry seemed in a good enough mood to entertain idle discussion for a few more moments while Dan gathered his nerve.

"I wish to ask for permanent residence after seeing just what is going on last night. I am disappointed that something like this was not brought to my attention earlier by my daughter, but I have a feeling even she didn't know that something like that would happen." Dan finally spoke up after a minute lapsed in silence.

Harry didn't seem surprised at the declaration, letting Dan know that Harry had already considered the idea before the man brought it up to him. "I can allow you to do this, Dan, but I would require an oath of secrecy from you and Emma regarding all that you might see while staying here."

"I cannot give magical oaths, I am a mu-" Dan was cut off by Harry fake coughing while saying bullshit in between coughs, causing Dan to level a glare at the boy.

"Do not play me for a fool, Elf, I know what you and your wife are." Harry stated with ice in his tone while his eyes began to glow an eerie golden color. Dan took a step back at the look in his daughters friends face, only to relax when Harry held up his hands for permission to continue.

"I have been watching you two carefully since I brought you into my home last night, did you know that your illusions drop when you are completely exhausted and sleeping?" Harry questioned with insistence, even though he was lying out of his teeth. The only reason he knew what they are is because of old legends and Orochimaru bringing up the point about their blood being a mixture of human and something he couldn't identify. "I do not being lied to, Dan, especially not in my own home. Do remember that." And with his part said, Harry grabbed the mans arm quickly and teleported them directly to the entrance of the room where Emma and Hermione were waiting patiently.

"Let us be off." Harry said with a smile while waving goodbye to Shiva, who though she couldn't see it, she could feel the air displacement thanks to her enhanced senses. A sad hiss escaped her maw, but Harry understood it as goodbye.

**-FOSTA-**

Albus could say he had never been quite as mad as he was right now, so much so that the ebony castle that hid away the two Dark Lords had been super heated and turned into slag at the powerful heat that had been produced, though the magic holding it in place just made it look like a molten palace. The report and memories provided by the skeletal warriors dispatched to kill Harry's little pet had ended up sending the masquerading lord of light into a fit of rage, enough to make him almost shed his vessel once again.

More so than that, it seemed now Harry was aware of the threat to his life and would retaliate if he could. Precautions had been taken to make sure that Orochimaru of the Akatsuki couldn't find him, though he doubted the wards would hold up when tested by the foreign energy the man seemed capable of wielding, even more so if he and Harry were connected like he has been led to believe.

Many of Dumbledores own people had been killed in his outburst and the charring of his skin had yet to receded, showing just how little control the man had over himself at this point. "I will recall the Order of the Phoenix under the pretense that Voldemort has taken over Harry Potter, they will eat the story up like cake after seeing the boy being sorted into Slytherin. He, of course, did not know that Harry was currently acting against him through a blood clone, running the same exact smear campaign but backwards.

Gellert was pacing back and forth while reading over the report again and again, the tension in his shoulders easily telegraphing the mans thoughts on the matters at hand.

"It seems that the game is on in full swing again, Albus, after these twelve years of silence." Gellert simply stated before disapperating from the massive castle under Dumbledore's control, returning to Nurmengard where he could continue to work on his latest project, namely reigning control of the US and Russia back under his control.

Every attempt to infiltrate the military establishment of either government was stonewalled and quickly thwarted, time and time again. Many of his own personal agents, some not sworn to secrecy, had been discovered and interrogated by the magicals in either government and Grindlewald was almost positive that he had been compromised.

The moment word got out that he was still operating behind the scenes, someone had began cutting a slew of his men down with ruthlessness he had never seen before, dropping all of his agents to only a handful of the Elite wizards instead of dozens.

Every team found dead had been found with a single white snake with emerald green eyes, watching those who had come to retrieve the bodies. It was unnerving to say the least, as the snake was reportedly intelligent enough to leave a message written in blood with its tail.

The message was clear, his days were numbered. Now if only he could get to his safe house with Albus being none the wiser.

**-FOSTA-**

When the clock struck twelve, the second secret meeting of the Akatsuki was called into order. Voldemort was noticeably absent from the gathering as he was commonly known to observe and let Harry do his work for him.

Lucius, Sirius, Bellatrix, Severus, Asmodeus and Uchiha Izuna, head of the Blood-clone troops sat waiting patiently for their chance to speak as they all brought good news and some even troubling news.

Harry cleared his throat and took a good look into the eyes of all that were present, his emerald green orbs alight with energy those present haven't seen before in the growing boy.

"I bring good news tonight, my fellow members... News that could very well change the way we operate from here on out." Harry started after quenching his thirst with a quick sip of pumpkin juice. "First, however, I would like to hear what news each of you have brought to me and we shall proceed from there."

Bellatrix was the first to rise, indicating that as per usual she had the right to speak first as she was second in command. "Donum Misericordiae has brought in enough funding that we have moved onto phase 2 of our project, muggle scientific research and development. I am proud to announce that as of this afternoon, Harry owns twenty different laboratories spanning over the United States, India, Germany, South Korea and Iceland."

The members gathered around the table clapped politely at the declaration, only for Bellatrix to hold up her hand. "Further more, thanks to the clever work of the Uchiha Blood-clones and their natural prowess as Shinobi, we were able to infiltrate top secret establishments within the United States, Russia and China. We now have every single blueprint for every machine they have ever constructed as well as a list of underground 'black-listed' facilities that we could claim for ourselves easily."

Harry grinned at the news and established a quick link with Bellatrix, allowing him to copy the knowledge of all significant findings as to cut back on explanation time seeing as no other member outside of Orochimaru would find use with any of these scientific discoveries.

Bellatrix indicated for Orochimaru to stand, who did as he was told and began his own report. "We have successfully discovered and isolated the genes that allow we Magicals to access Magic, though it is seeming less and less like just magic the more I study it. Here," Orochimaru started while withdrawing a device from his sleeve before placing it at the table, "Is the DNA sequence for a muggle."

From the crystal imbedded in the round disk placed on the table, a holographic image of a double helix burst from the crystal. "Now this is the DNA of a half-blood." Following his second sentence, another double helix sprouted from the crystal though a few more of the ladders present were highlighted while the muggle DNA had no strands highlighted.

"The highlighted genes are those that allow the half-bloods to access and use magic, though at a far lower concentration than traditional pure-bloods are capable of utilizing."

Orochimaru clicked his remote one more time, causing a third double helix to appear beside the other two. "This is the Pure-Blood DNA sequence, and as you can see the highlighted genes are much more abundant."

Murmurs broke out at this point though they quickly stopped when Orochimaru started to clear his throat. "As I was saying, these genes are what allow us to tap into magic while our pineal glands are what allow us to actually use magic." and with yet another click of his remote, the image of a human brain was displayed next to the three DNA sequences.

"It is with 100% certainty that I have concocted a serum that will activate the dormant genes present in magic users, as the highlighted genes you see before you are only a small segment of what we should have access to."

Harry stood and leaned forward to get a better look at the highlighted sequences in the half-blood and pure-blood DNA, and soon after the many lightly flashing genes that are dormant within the magical community. "The flashing genes are those that have become dormant after years and years of breeding with Muggles, as none of us can truly claim to have pure blood after all, and if activated-"

"That is enough, Orochimaru, we will discuss this between the two of us tonight." Harry cut in, giving the man a look that told him to be silent. Orochimaru nodded and turned the hologram projector off with a click of his remote before activating the summoning seal on his wrist to return the device to his personal storage seal on his wrist.

After a few more moments of murmuring, Sirius rose from seated position after Orochimaru took his seat and began his own report. The Black Market continued to run at 100% efficiency, always bringing in more gains than losses. The Akatsuki coffers and many bank accounts continued to rake in money at an astounding rate once world-wide connections were made instead of isolating his market to England.

Africa was thriving under the many 'illegal' medical potions being supplied to their people as well as the strong lumber and other resources being put out for the starving Muggle and Magical communities. Many connections in Egypt sang praise from the roofs in the Akatsuki name after Harry sent a few agents to retake control of their ministry from a budding Dark Lord out to oppress his muggle counterparts.

By agents, Harry meant Shadow Clones of his reinforced by different charms and wards, but the Egyptian Ministry was none the wiser. The many countries across northern and western Africa were taken care of with the newly created PMC, 'Mjolnir', who was dispatched by Bellatrix to retake the many desecrated countries back from their warlords and help those in need of recovery.

Severus reported a few of his newly created potions using the many different ingredients being provided to him by Harry, whether they be plant matter or organic. A boosted version of Veritaserum was created after a bit of a struggle between Sirius and Severus, though it was not physical conflict thank goodness. Harry would have had to punish them for their stupidity if that had been the case. He had always felt like planting a dumbass tree.

Harry had a hard time concentrating on all that was reported after the initial two reports delivered from Bellatrix and Orochimaru, thus causing him to call the unofficial meeting to a close early.

**-FOSTA-**

"So you are telling me that wizards are just the descendents of some ancient race breeding with humans, thus over time diminishing the gene-pool?" Harry questioned with slight suspicion in his voice before typing a few commands into the holographic keyboard projected in front of him, bringing up an enlarged picture of the sequence earlier pointed out by Orochimaru.

"That is what I believe, yes, and as such I can prove it." Orochimaru stated before withdrawing what looked to be like metal suction cups connected to a large array of wires that fed into one of the white machines lining the walls.

After carefully placing the suction cups around his head, he commanded the machine to bring up a real time display of his brain and began to channel his magic at a slow rate.

After a few moments of studying the info feed, Harry noticed that directly in the center of the brain, right where the pineal gland was located, a strange reading began to occur. After increasing his output of magic once again, Orochimaru began to point out the areas that confirmed his hypothesis.

"Right now, I am channeling enough magic to sustain a simple levitation charm. Now, I am channeling enough to maintain Fiendfyre." And with the last sentence spoken, the strange purple light on the backdrop of a standard green image of the brain began to flare and turn a bright shade of lavender, almost white compared to the green sections of the brain that flared to crimson.

"So it seems..." Harry murmured, studying the chart while typing in commands of his own. A second screen popped up and linked itself with the blood currently flowing through Orochimaru, which Harry then zoomed on in. In real time, Harry watched the designated sequence of genes begin to flash in a pattern, indicating that they had been supercharged with the energy being channeled by Orochimaru, though the older DNA sequence that had been overtaken by the human genome remained inert.

"And what is your theory on what would happen if we activate the dormant genes? Would we even be considered human?" Harry finally questioned after studying the phenomena for a few more minutes.

"That is a bit harder to answer... in short, no, we would no longer be considered human. Considering that the Chakra Genes are completely separate from the Magic Genes, we could essentially activate both dormant sets. My theory is that it will effect just how much magic you can use at a time, how much you can store, your control and etc., the same for the Chakra Gene Activation."

Harry steeped his hands in front of his face and lowered his head in thought, taking a few moments to think on the idea. "I want it implemented, tomorrow morning. I need Dumbledore and his little associate dead within the year, then we can proceed with Project Yggdrasil. Very well, prepare to give me the serum in the morning."

"As you wish, Harry." Orochimaru stated with barely contained glee, ecstatic at the go ahead on his latest pet project.

"And Orochimaru?" Harry called after wandlessly casting a silencing charm on the area and another spell that Orochimaru didn't recognize, but he could feel the effects sit in almost immediately. "From now on, you answer to me and me alone. Do not forget that."

**-FOSTA-**

"There have been rumors that America has completed a prototype Nanotechnology, Bellatrix. Can you confirm this, and if so, can you get the schematics to create our own?" Harry questioned as he started his follow up meeting with his right hand woman.

Bellatrix nodded her head and reached into the second drawer on her desk after smearing blood on the handle of the drawer, released the seal that kept it from being opened by anyone other than Harry or Bellatrix.

"I figured that little bit would have gotten your interest, so I took the liberty to procure the research behind the nanotech from the government of Japan with the help of Orochimaru. We can begin development within a month, though I have a suggestion..."

"Go on." Harry murmured while reading over the file handed to him. His eyes seemed to be glazed over, a look Bellatrix associated with her Master being deep in thought.

"I also have seized the information behind the creation of an Artificial Intelligence, which one of my most recent employees from Donum specialized in before being hired on as a medical researcher on mental diseases. It is my belief that with the proper equipment, we can copy your mind into a computer utilizing a program designed to capture your brain waves, copy your memories and create a base code that the mind will never decode, thus ensuring complete loyalty and limited self-awareness."

Harry looked up from his viewing of the nano-tech blueprint to stare Bellatrix in the eyes. "Are you telling me what I think you are telling me?"

Bellatrix looked confused for a moment before the proverbial light bulb sprung to life above her head. "I am telling you what you have wanted to hear"

"Perfect. Absolutely perfect. When can we have this finished?" Harry questioned while making a few contingency plans based around his current knowledge, nano-tech and artificial intelligence was the stuff of nightmares for any intelligence, Human or otherwise.

The widowed Black paused and placed her forefinger on her lips, making the calculations and plans in her head as well as her psychotic mind would allow. "Give me around six months to get this all started. I will keep you informed as I proceed with a multiphase process, starting with nano-tech, which I am sure we can enslave to you through clever use of spells if they are designed to be power by Mana."

Harry nodded his head along as if he were listening, though Bellatrix could tell he was lost in thought. With a sigh, she sat down next to the young boy and brushed her hand through his hair, watching as he processed his thoughts.

"Why the hell are you playing with my hair?"

**-FOSTA-**

"Hey, Draco! Come meet my parents!" Hermione shouted from across the garden, frantically waving down the blond haired Slytherin who was currently on his way to the training grounds located around the Asylum.

Draco snapped his head in her direction, shocked that Hermione was present where most of the Dark forces gathered now that Voldemort and Harry were working together to win the war against Albus and his cronies in the governments around the world.

"What are you doing here, Hermione?" Draco questioned while approaching the curly haired muggleborn witch, eying her parents with caution. Hermione sighed and began to explain the Grangers situation and Harry's hypothesis that it was Dumbledore who sent the skeleton warrior creatures to kill her and her parents.

She was a bit flabbergasted by the idea, as the man was revered by the magical community but the evidence collected by Harry, such as his magical signature being present in a few of the downed creatures Harry had studied briefly after returning to the home base proved everything to the young girl.

The Malfoy began to seethe in anger after hearing the girls story, his blue eyes becoming sharper than she had ever seen. "Harry will take care of Dumbledore, there is no doubt in my mind. I just hope I can be there when the life drains from that goats eyes."

Hermione shook her head sadly at the boys declaration as revenge was something she didn't approve of, but she held her tongue otherwise as she too was furious. "How would you like to get some training in while we wait for news from Harry on how to proceed?" Draco questioned with an amused tone after a few moments, having briefly spoken to his father over their mental link and learned of a few more interesting facts that are currently being with-held from the Grangers for their own protection.

**-FOSTA-**

"Are you sure this information is correct, Scrimgour?" Questioned Amelia Bones as she stared down at the many vials of memories waiting to be viewed by pensieve, directly extracted from Harry Potter, Professor Slughorn, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt, which led to her current investigation. Kingsley was discovered to be an agent working for Dumbledore after being recalled to the ministry for questioning under Veritaserum, something which he initially resisted.

Filius Flitwick had corresponded with the Ministry the moment Hogwarts let out for winter vacation, first opening up the investigation of Albus and all of his underhanded dealings within the world, starting with his enslavement of certain teachers within the school he controls.

"I am positive, Ma'am. Dumbledore is guilty without a shadow of a doubt. We must move in and take him down before he is able to gather his wits and enslave more of us to his cause." Scrimgour answered with steel in his tone, having once been a friend of the man during the first war, and a loyal informant at that.

"Gather four platoons of Auror's, we will move in at midnight." Amelia finally stated, lowering her head slightly in regret that it had finally come to this. 'First it was Grindlewald, then Voldemort and now Albus... Just who is next?'


	12. As Above, So Below

**From one Snake to Another**

**Chapter 12, As Above, So Below**

**I do not own anything pertaining to anything whatsoever used in this fan-fiction. That means I am not J.K., or any of those good folks who spent so much of their time entertaining us all.**

**Thank you all so much for the reviews, I really enjoy getting feed back from you all! From this chapter on, things might seemed to be a bit rushed. IT'S THE END OF THIS WORLD AS YOU KNOW IT.**

**With these next few chapters I will be wrapping up From one Snake to Another, but fear not! I will be writing a sequel that will include many different Sci-fi or Space based series, most of those will be revealed when chapters are released. If you can guess a few of these full on crossovers with the hints provided in the story, you will get a shout out from yours truly! For what that's worth and all that.**

**-FOSTA-**

Amelia stared down at the men and women that made up the four platoons worth of Auror's dispatched from their positions around the world to be briefed on the growing problems within the wizarding world.

Swallowing the bitter Red Pill and waking up to reality was a humbling thing indeed as many of the newly recruited Auror's had learned, while the veterans among the forces were readily digesting the fact that they had all been played fools by Dark Lord after Dark Lord.

Harry had foresight enough to station a few clones under Meseigakure to watch the proceeding meetings and report to him the final plans so he could act in conjunction with the Auror's without them becoming aware of his involvement.

It was one week before the return of students back to Hogwarts, so Harry was hoping to hurry this operation along so he could continue his 'education'. Scientific discoveries didn't make themselves, after all.

"We rally tonight outside of Nurmengard, the holding place of Grindlewald to confront both Albus and Grindlewald once and for all. We have received intelligence that the area, while heavily warded, is understaffed thanks to many different fits of rage from our beloved Supreme Muggwump."

This last statement was met with the many grim faces of angry men and women, each not finding the humor in the situation which was all the better for Amelia as it showed they were paying close attention to what she was saying.

"We will be utilizing the three different tactics the newest bunch of Auror's were trained on thanks to instruction from Orochimaru of the Akatsuki clan, who will have his own part during this operation with a temporary position as commander for these coming hours."

Once Orochimaru had appointed enough clones to delegating his main purpose in Japan, he was recalled to England to train the latest batch of Auror's behind the scenes while also working with Bellatrix on the Donum project of ridding the muggle world of disease and sickness.

While officially working for the English M.o.M, many of the younger Auror's had aligned themselves firmly with Orochimaru and by proxy Harry, giving him more inside agents inside of the Ministry and Voldemort and Dumbledore combined, though not enough to control the entire government.

As such, Harry knew that the many Auror's present, while highly trained and better than many of their older counterparts were still immature, thus their reaction upon learning of Dumbledore's true colors.

"The first is going to be what Orochimaru calls a 'Door Knocker', which in reality is just a skilled ward breaker bringing up a powerful ward only to destabilize it seconds later," Amelia began, her face scrunched up in revulsion at the brutish tactic, "This will collapse the other wards present and breach Nurmengard."

"Our second attack will be from above, utilizing the Blitzkrieg tactic the Nazi's were so feared for. Instead of conventional spell fire, Orochimaru has provided many weapons to be used in this raid consisting of cluster bombs, stun grenades and specially crafted muggle fire-arms that shoot stunners instead of bullets for back-up if you lose your wand in the coming battle."

Many of the Auror's in the crowd, especially those trained by Orochimaru, were pleased with the two tactics they had been trained in, even though they were to operate in smaller units and use these same tactics. Such a large force of trained pseudo-shinobi, even if they didn't have chakra nor have any idea on what a Shinobi were, was quite a powerful force to be reckoned with. These two tactics were common place for them to train in, considering most wards did not stop physical objects from entering through wards, only humans.

The foresight of Wizards and Witches alike was short, far shorter than any advanced race should be. Harry, Orochimaru and Bellatrix all agreed that such short-sightedness should be erased from the magical world once this short war was finished with.

"The final tactic we will be using tonight is an attack from below, where Orochimaru himself will be leading forces from the tunnels he will dig directly under Nurmengard using his own personal spells, most of you here have seen them in action during training." Bouts of strained laughter rang out at this point, many of those present having been buried up to their necks with knives pointed at their eyes at one time or another during training, something most of those present did not want to experience again.

Cheers of those ready for action echoed through the room, soon getting all of those present infected with the lust for the battle to come. Even Amelia, the stone cold leader of the Auror's had her game face on.

Orochimaru ginned and signaled to the hidden clones to go ahead and report back to Harry while he switched places with one of his own shadow clones. It was time to give Harry his promised serum to activate the dormant genes in his blood.

**-FOSTA-**

Harry was pacing back and forth in his room while Bellatrix sat on the edge of his bed with her legs dangling over the edge, kicking them to and fro as if she were a child. A haunting tune was being whistled by the Black, something her father used to hum to her when she was restless at night.

The black haired teen turned his gaze to his most loyal follower with ice in his eyes, silently asking her to kindly shut up. Bellatrix got the message and quit humming under her breath while rolling her eyes at the boy.

"You know everything is going to work out, I don't see what the big deal is." Bellatrix stated while looking over the information again and again, using her heightened intelligence and history with healing magic to make sure that this serum would not kill him.

"Other than injecting you with the Metamorph gene before the Unlocking Serum to make sure your body can handle a second abrupt change to your physiology, there is nothing that can prepare you for what this could potentially do. Are you sure you still want to go through with this?"

Harry dismissed the question without considering even backing down, already aware of the risk he was about to take. "I already have my consciousness copied and sealed into one of the blood clone networks, so if this doesn't work I will always come right back, just with less of a soul which is also easily rectified." Harry answered with a shrug, already comfortable with his form of Immortality that did no harm to everyone else.

One thing Orochimaru had never considered was just cloning his bodies from scratch, that way he did not have to constantly fight with the consciousness of those he steals from the unwilling. Of course, the technology of the Elemental Nation's is just one step above the Industrial Age thanks to the presence of Chakra, but that was still lacking where it mattered.

"You have a point." Bellatrix admitted while sighing deeply. "You know that Tom is planning on disposing of you soon, right? The moment Dumbledore is gone, he will take everything you have worked for."

Harry sighed and nodded his head, already having seen the man's plans when scanning his mind thanks to their link. While Voldemort thought Harry couldn't see passed the weak Occlumency barriers the man erected around his plans thanks to subtle genjutsu usage on Harry's part, Harry knew everything the man knew and more.

His original plan was to let Tom rule the magical world by himself and for himself and Bellatrix to return to the Elemental Nations to continue his operations there. That was scratched the moment Harry found the first scraps of a plan to wipe him out from the face of the earth.

Tom was willing to part with a good portion of his soul, his own Horcrux, just to make sure he did not have to share his empire. The Vampires of Albania, Romania and Kiev had already rallied under Voldemort's banner, where many operations in those countries went underway.

Dementors and Lethifolds from around the world rallied to Albania, hidden behind powerful repelling wards erected by Voldemort himself using his Mythril Armlet that Harry recovered himself. Fenrir Greyback and his large battalion of werewolves loomed behind the same wards, though separated by the two soul sucking creatures. Harry knew that his move of bringing the Inner Circle of Voldemort into the Akatsuki where they swore undying loyalty to him alone, allowing Harry to keep the most powerful members of the Death Eaters under his control.

Most of the lower members of the Death Eaters, those of rather scrupulous backgrounds had fled to Albania the moment Tom began operations there, thinking that Harry would be unaware of the rally against him by people he healed, but alas Tom was still thinking like a maniac instead of a genius.

Such is the draw of dark magic, even if the man had chakra running through his coils. Harry had placed a compulsion on the body before Voldemort possessed it to make sure the man did not study too deeply into the foreign energy, least the man figure out how cursed seals worked. Harry did not need thousands of soul-less copies of Voldemort running around causing havoc, that would be counter productive to everything Harry sought to accomplish.

While Voldemort hid his contingency plans behind Occlumency barriers, Harry hid his own behind a modified Fidelius charm with only himself as the secret keeper. Orochimaru and Bellatrix were under the same charm, yet again with Harry being the secret keeper.

"He will get his, do not worry your pretty little head." Harry smiled, reaching out to brush the curly hair from the woman's face. "As soon as Orochimaru shows himself, we can get this over with and I will deal with our three Dark Lord's once and for all."

**-FOSTA-**

Orochimaru stared down at Harry with no small amount of curiosity in his eyes, who laid himself out on the medical table without a complaint. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? We have no idea what could happen if we activate both the Chakra genes and the Magic genes at once." Orochimaru stated, though he knew that the boy who brought him back to life in this strange world would not.

The metamorph gene had already overridden his fathers DNA, taken and modified from one of the students at Hogwarts named Nymphadora Tonks, who Harry was made aware was Bellatrix's niece.

The teenaged Sage found it ironic that Bellatrix's niece was going to take the place of his fathers genetic coding, thus nullifying his claim to being a Potter once and for all while reinforcing the Black family DNA, even if it were muddled with muggle DNA.

"Let's just get this over with, Orochimaru." Harry stated with a sigh, having grown used to his left and right hands trying to talk him out of stupid ideas. While Orochimaru knew Harry knew everything he knew, which was confusing to know, he couldn't help but think the boy did not know what he was doing.

The procedure, if it could be called that, was quick. Just inject the serum into his vein. Why was it so difficult to get good help?

A quick jab of a needle later, and Harry was regretting his decision very, very much.

Pain just like the first time his body was ripped apart began to erupt, though he was sure that the pain was within his chakra, his magic, his body and soul all at once.

Liquid fire coursed through the teenager's cells as each were rewritten using the genetic information unlocked by the serum, though none of those who created the serum could have known that this was not something that should have happened.

His DNA began to unravel and rewrite itself using the information provided by the serum and the preserved phoenix tears to keep Harry alive as his body began to break down and reform. Horns began to sprout from his scalp in the shape of a deers while his eyes burst into flames. The ashes of the instantly destroyed orbs coalesced together and formed the rippled eyes only heard of in fables, but instead of just rings, both eyes bore nine sharingan tomoe.

The clothing covering Harry's body vanished into smoke and the seals etched into his skin began to glow a spectral purple. Orochimaru and Bellatrix had already begun to panic the moment their leaders eyes burst into flames, though they were fascinated to note that none of the skin around the eyes, such as the eyelids, were not damaged by the intensely hot flames.

A slit appeared on the forehead of Harry before being forced open, revealing a third eye bearing the same ring and tomoed eye as his other two, only for the eye to close and the slit disappear from sight.

With a roar, Harry disappeared from the medical table in a flash of white light and a mighty surge of both Chakra and Magic.

**-FOSTA-**

Across every plane of existence, both above and below that which Earth rested on, every being felt the flare of pure energy, much more than anything they combined could produce.

Beings made entirely of energy stopped their petty arguments and severe punishments against humanity for their own faults and took notice of the Ascended being, though they could tell immediately that he was raised much higher, and much faster than they were.

The newest conversation amongst those being was just what were they going to do, or say, to a being existing in a higher place than even they?

What type of knowledge, or heavens forbid _power_, did this being wield?

Were they benevolent, or malevolent?

Not knowing things was the only fear an immortal being could have.

**-FOSTA-**

A man bearing rippled eyes stopped his meditation when he felt a power much like his mothers well up around them, even within his realm outside of Samsara.

'I have not felt a power like this since the Juubi started its rampage... Madara could not contain this much power.' The floating man thought to himself while staring out into the blank whiteness of his dimension, trying to pinpoint the location to the massive power surge echoing across his domain and the Elemental Nations.

With a sigh, the Shakujo wielding humanoid began to chant under his breath as crimson energy erupted in his right hand while a dark purple energy erupted from his left.

**-FOSTA-**

Three women of amazing power and size stood around a strange anomaly in space, each conversing quickly about the power they felt pouring through the twenty two dimensions under their control as only creators could.

Power that easily outstripped anything they had ever felt, including themselves.

"What now, little Washu?" The blue haired woman questioned with reverence in her tone, as if every question she had ever asked was finally answered already.

"We figure out if this... being is what we have been looking for. Sure feels like it." The short red haired woman answered with a slightly lecherous grin on her face, as if such a thing was what she wanted all along.

The black haired woman, taller than both of her sisters, finally made her own piece known. "This is unexpected, as it was outside of all three of our expectations. Well, it was closer to mine than either of yours, but alas..."

"Hush, Tokimi, no need to be rude now." The blue haired woman admonished while sending out as many mental probes as possible to find the being that easily rivaled her sisters and herself.

"As you wish, Tsunami..." The black haired woman trailed off as she too sought out the being both above and below them in every direction.

**-FOSTA-**

Harry wanted nothing more than to dance at the moment he awoke, though he never lost consciousness. Feeling death gripping his throat was not what Harry expected when the liquid entered his veins, but it was something he easily welcomed if his theory was correct.

Having his mind expanded beyond expectations, with no limit that he could find, was beyond his wildest dreams. Being able to conjure matter with chakra using ingrained techniques?

Beyond the pale.

"Banbutsu Sozo!" And with his newest favorite technique, a large batch of treacle tart popped into existence in front of him with next to no chakra drain, something he would have never been able to accomplish with his chakra alone before the serum.

Making one of the treats float just within reach of his mouth with just a thought was icing on the cake, though Harry soon lost himself to his thoughts and the massive input of knowledge pounding its way into his... brain? It was weird to think of having a brain when you existed as pure energy. It was weird to think without a brain period.

His current theory on his situation, and the most probable, is that Orochimaru created a serum that would make the receiver practically the Sage of Six Paths, as every single being in the elemental nations wielding a bloodline was descended from him, his brother or his mother.

In his research into bloodlines during his time in the elemental nations, Orochimaru heard of the tablet beneath Naka shrine in the Uchiha District of Konoha through Danzo, just after the war hawk stole Shisui's mangekyou sharingan.

Danzo was able to translate most of the text with his ill begotten eye, which mentioned briefly that the Uchiha were descended from the Sages eldest son, who first bore the Sharingan while the Senju were the youngest sons descendents.

It was from that small entry that created the theory that the Rinnegan was another evolution of the Sharingan, one just had to have the cells of Senju as well as a Sharingan to activate it.

Instead of splicing his DNA to match a Senju and an Uchiha to gain the Rinnegan, Harry had accomplished something better.

He activated each and every gene that had been deactivated as the sages line was diluted, thus making him a brother to the sage in a way, or goodness forbid a father as his blood as not diluted in the same way the sages was.

Instead, the genes not associated with Chakra were activated and overcame any human left in his DNA, which were the genes that Orochimaru thought belonged to the ancient race that eventually bred into the human line which then gave birth the magical world.

Orochimaru was indeed correct, as Harry could access knowledge he knew that he never could have as a physical being, though Harry had to pause for a moment.

While he existed as a being of pure energy of different types on every dimension he could feel, he still existed on the physical realm and on earth at that and thus still had a body to return to.

A wicked grin tore across the newly ascended beings face, one that promised pain to a few beings irredeemable. Using much of his new-found knowledge from the race known as Asuran's as they were known as before the great divide, Harry began to plan not only the elimination of his own Dark Lord problems, but how to deal with the many problems left behind by his negligent ancestors.

"What a mess." Harry sighed while snapping his fingers and disappearing from the massive void he found himself in, a void that was connected to each and every dimension he could conceive.

"So much to do, but with so much time to do it... what do I do first?"

**-FOSTA-**

Orochimaru was in shock when Harry disappeared after going through the strangest physical changes he had ever seen, but not as much as when Harry just reappeared moments later like he never left with more chakra and magic at his disposal than Orochimaru could fathom, thus appearing as if Harry no longer contained either.

"This is problematic..." Orochimaru stated while turning to tap away at his keyboard, insistent on finding out what went wrong in the process. To strip a person of their chakra and magic was beyond cruel, something Orochimaru wouldn't wish on his worst enemy after having his arms sealed within the stomach of the Shinigami.

"It worked perfectly, Orochimaru. I have too much energy for you to comprehend." Harry stated as if he were talking about the weather, causing Orochimaru to turn and get a good look at the boy.

With a wave of his hand, Harry produced a sphere of light commonly produced when using the _lumos_ spell which was enough to prove to Orochimaru that he could still control magic.

A small fraction of his chakra unleashed left Harry smirking down at Orochimaru who immediately collapsed to the ground, unable to bear the weight of the massive amount of chakra pouring through the room.

The many trees surrounding Asylum One began to twist and churn with the excess chakra pouring from Harry, enough to cause many of the wooden spires to continue growing upwards and out, hiding the top of the Asylum completely from view.

The many wards around the massive complex began to waver, only for Harry to tweak them slightly to draw in the chakra to power them using a bit of runic and sealing prowess.

"I only survived this and became what I am now because of the excess soul energy I have absorbed from various demons and the Horcrux once in my scar." Harry admitted while using his innate metamorphagus ability to resume his previous appearance, though the horns refused to change.

A sigh escaped Harry's lips while he conjured a small hand mirror with a wave of his hand. "You have got to be kidding me."

Orochimaru shook his head and tried to hide his mirth at the ascended beings woes, it seemed to him Harry was unable to just will the horns away unlike the rest of his appearance.

Before Harry retook his previous visage, he had undergone a massive change to his physiology. His once black hair had been bleached white and easily grew to reach the teenagers knees. His eyes were still the ringed and tomoed eyes of the mutated Rinnegan, though Harry reversed those changed with a thought.

"Oh well, you win a lot you lose some." Harry muttered with a huff before recalling Bellatrix from her search for the boy. The woman appeared without a pop or a distortion, though she seemed a bit shaken up. "HARRY!"

"Bellatrix! Calm down!" Harry yelped while dodging around the clingy woman, using his newly acquired supreme mastery of chakra to switch places with the still chuckling Orochimaru.

"Now that I have your attention, there is some form of massive conflict occurring in the Elemental Nations that need to be rectified immediately so our plans can come together," Harry began while starting to levitate in place while lazily reclining, "I will transport the three of us directly onto the battlefield where Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto are confronting what seems to be an Edo Tensei version of Uchiha Madara with Uchiha Obito acting as the ten tails Jinchuuriki."

"What could we possibly do to a man like Madara, who if he is ressurrected under Edo Tensei will have an infinite amount of Chakra, or even the container of this 'Juubi'?" Orochimaru questioned with slight fear in his voice, not wanting to confront a man of that kind of power directly despite many of his newest abilities and creations.

Harry reached out and popped his right hand man upside the head with a frown on his face. "Don't be ridiculous Orochimaru, we are going to fight like Shinobi. Go in, take control of the situation from the background and go from there. It seems someone has resurrected the soul fragment of yours left behind in Mitarashi Anko's seal, who in turn has resurrected the previous Hokage after releasing them from the Shinigami's stomach."

"How do you know all of this already when you aren't even there?" Bellatrix questioned while summoning the many different items and weapons she would need for an incursion into an unknown battleground. Senbon, Kunai, potions for restoration and vials of synthetic phoenix tears for the injuries that require more than simple Iryo-jutsu and restoration draughts.

Orochimaru always kept his many different weapons and accessories on his person at all times due to his side job as an assassin for hire, though the contracts quit coming in after the latest news of an agreement by both the United States and Russia to cease the conflict in the pacific. Instead of a World War, the second Cold War started before the first even ended, though the arms race currently going on was no longer nuclear oriented thanks to a bit of manipulation on Harry's, Orochimaru's and Bellatrix's part.

"The only way to answer that question is with this; I have become Omnipresent in the form that I exist in every dimension at once." Harry spoke with certainty, as if his words bore no contest.

Orochimaru and Bellatrix shared a look before his left hand was the first to break the silence. "Elaborate, please?"

Harry smirked before summoning a holographic image with a flick of his finger, showing twenty two different levels to a large graph. "A normal being such as yourself and Orochimaru would exist as a single entity on a single plane, the Third Plane to be precise." Harry began while the area around Bellatrix and Orochimaru distorted until it soon resembled a college style auditorium instead of the hallway outside of Orochimaru's personal laboratory.

"I, however, because the size of my soul was more so than our ancestors when they too ascended to the fifth and sixth planes, was able to leave a portion of myself on every level while still retaining a majority of the power I have accumulated. Because of this, I am aware of everything that happens in the planes around me and I control these portions left behind as if they were my physical body."

"Because of the exact nature of the way I ascended, and the fact that I exist in so many places at once, I can switch any portion of myself out for whichever plane I wish to be on, whether it be my spectral form which is slightly intangible, my physical body which is tangible, my energy, or my godly body which is in the Highest Place and beyond explanation."

Bellatrix and Orochimaru shared another look before Orochimaru raised his hand. Harry looked down at the list of names, which consisted of only two, on the slip of paper now clutched in his hand. "Ah, yes, here it is... Mr. Orochimaru was it? What is your question?"

Orochimaru scowled and stared at the boy with a cool gaze. "You don't seem all knowing to me, Harry."

Harry leaned his head back and laughed heartily at the statement, amused that Orochimaru was taking this situation as seriously as he was. "I am not all knowing, but I know a hell of a lot more than you. I have the knowledge left over from different Ancient races, though we will discuss more of this later."

Bellatrix raised a hand to her mouth to prevent her from laughing out right at her friends expense, having grown fond of Orochimaru and his moodiness long ago. The auditorium around them began to fade and churn and before long the three found themselves standing in the hallway once more.

"So, are you two ready for this?" Harry questioned while summoning a Shakujo to his hand, something that seemed fitting to wield in the coming confrontation. While he had the innate knowledge of something called the 'Infinite Tsukuyomi' and different Sharingan and Rinnegan techniques, Harry knew he didn't really need them to deal with someone like Madara, especially so if Harry had back up in the form of the Nine Tails Jinchuuriki and the 'Last Uchiha'.

Due to the time difference between the Elemental Nations and Earth, Harry would be able to return home with just enough time to slay three dark lords before it was bed time.

Orochimaru, Orochimaru and Bellatrix were just good to have around if things went too far south, but Harry doubted they would be needed for any of the bigger fights bound to occur.

"As ready as I can be." Orochimaru answered evenly while Bellatrix just shrugged her shoulders while drawing her wand, ready to fling out Crucio's if she needed to. It was always fun to see some random person on the street drop to ground and start twitching while screaming madly, at least to her.

Harry never did appreciate her sense of humor and even went as far as punishing her for it on many occasions. Oh well, she swore she would stop hurting people unless he gave the order to, something he might just give her today if she played her cards right.


	13. The end of an Era

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 13, The end of an era

I do not own anything pertaining to anything written in this story such as Harry Potter, Dark Souls, Naruto, or any other series that I might use as inspiration.

I hope you all are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it!

**-FOSTA-**

Being transplanted directly into a battlefield is exactly what Bellatrix was expecting, but seeing a massive thousand handed, five headed statue using all five elements to lay waste to thousands of people at once was not what she was expecting by 'War.'

'War' means two forces attacking one another, this was genocide.

Harry gave the two their orders. Orochimaru was to find his counterpart while Bellatrix would seek out Tsunade or any of the five Kage.

Harry himself turned his attention to the man currently impaling Sasuke on his own sword while gloating like most megalomaniacs did in their moment of power. Harry scoffed before launching a wave of Onmyoton based chakra at the man, programing the wave of chakra to latch onto the wooden structures littering the land scape and seal the man away in a large containment field while he got Sasuke out of the way.

Madara did not see the technique until it was too late to dodge, causing the man to be wrapped up in a cage suddenly laced with Sage Chakra courtesy of the two shadow clones now surrounding the cage. Harry knew that his clones could only buy him a few minutes, just enough to heal Sasuke and prepare the sealing process to take care of Madara and hopefully the woman hiding within the Gedo Mazo.

"Hello Sasuke, this is not the way I intended to meet you but beggars cant be choosers I suppose." Harry murmured as he knelt next to the rapidly bleeding out teenager. Reaching into his sleeve, Harry summoned one of the syringes containing synthetic phoenix tears before jabbing it into the wounded area and injecting the entire plunger into his chest.

"Give it two seconds and the wound will begin to heal." Harry commented while Sasuke began to take deep breaths while drawing as much chakra as he could access. "I don't know who you are, but I appreciate you saving my life." Sasuke grunted while struggling to stand.

Two Orochimaru's landed next to Harry and Sasuke a moment later, each separating and taking sides between the two. "Orochimaru, meet Harry. Harry, meet Orochimaru." The Orochimaru standing next to Harry stated with a grin, though the situation was far from humorous to the black haired Ascended being.

"I know you well, Orochimaru, though I know you do not know me. We will rectify that later, now I must take care of this relic and complete what I came here to do." Harry stated with firmness in his tone, taking strides towards the rapidly failing cage holding back the Rinnegan wielding Uchiha.

"You have some nerve interfering in this, outsider." Madara sneered while calling upon the silvery chakra from his deep coils. Harry began to leak out his own ghostly purple chakra while his eyes rippled outwards while tomoe sprouted on three different rings, showing a triple layered Sharingan on the ripples of the Rinnegan.

"You have some nerve speaking to your new God that way, mortal." Harry stated with a smirk before waving his hand towards the kneeling man, causing him to be launched backwards fast enough to break the sound barrier.

Harry zoomed his vision in towards the man using one of the many abilities of the Sharinnegan to keep track of the man as he bounced along the surface of the ground like a pebble against a lake.

"Say, Orochimaru, would you say that is the new world record for longest skip-rock?" Harry questioned while turning to look back at his right hand man. Orochimaru seemed to pause and think about the statement before nodding his head in the affirmative. "I do believe so, Harry, I do believe so. You should be proud of this grand accomplishment, you will surely be in the world record books for this."

Harry grinned at the sarcastic remark which let him know Orochimaru was still in his element, though his Elemental counterpart looked a bit flabbergasted at the casual banter at what Harry just displayed.

"Play nice with your better self and you can get in on the greatest age to be brought to both Earth and here, Orochimaru." The ascended being called back at the Snake Sage standing next to Sasuke, who still was staring at Harry as if seeing an Alien for the first time.

"Its the horns, isn't it?" Harry asked Sasuke after finally following his gaze. Sasuke seemed taken aback and ready to defend himself when Harry shrugged his shoulders. "You are the first to point it out as I really did just get them, so whatever." Harry explained while launching the seven ringed Shakujo at the still bouncing man.

With another wave of his hand, Madara came flying back in their direction, still bouncing along the ground as a skipping stone would. "You know that has really, really got to hurt." Harry pointed out while placing a hand over his eyebrows to shade out the sun. Getting a better look, the Sage was able to watch as his Shakujo spun in a perfect arc and catch the man directly in the back of the skull with enough force to cave in his skull though the man still clung to life thanks to the Sage Chakra he drained from Hashirama.

Madara came to a skidding halt directly in front of Harry in a heap, bloody from head to toe and with no small number of pebbles and stones imbedded into his skin from the many jarring impacts with the face of the massive battlefield around them.

The Allied Forces of the Shinobi Nations watched in awe as the man they all feared like he was the Shinigami himself was man-handled by this black haired stranger claiming to be a God. They too took notice of the two Orochimaru's standing by the recently healed Sasuke and Team Taka and the Sage, confusing many of the present Konoha shinobi.

They knew of the Hebi Sennin's revival, but they could also tell that the man standing beside Team Taka was not a Bunshin. For the black haired teenager with deer horns sprouting from his skull to claim Orochimaru as his right hand man was ludicrous as they all knew the man worked for himself alone.

Shikamaru and Ino were rapidly conversing between themselves before broadcasting the conversation back to the five Kage who were further away from the battlefield nearest the massive statue that Bellatrix wandered off towards, though the Shinobi were unaware of the curly haired mad woman's presence at all.

Raising his right hand, which was now covered in crimson chakra while his left hand stayed at waist level, coated in dark purple chakra, Harry began to chant an old proverb in the ancient Shinobi language dating back to the period of the Shinju, something that was ingrained within Harry after being Awoken as he was.

Madara groaned and tried getting up from his kneeling position though he failed horribly to do so. The grey and purple Rinnegan eyes glared at Harry who continued to chant under his breath as sealing script began to appear out of thin air around the metamorphmagus.

Before Harry could complete his technique, a black blog possessing the body of Uchiha Obito attempted to stop him. Knowing that Obito was still alive within the almost dead body and that Zetsu was merely possessing him was all that stopped Harry from completely obliterating the deceived man, though it did not stop him from playing another round of skip rock while he waited to finish his sealing ritual needed to separate the Biju from Madara.

"Gah!" Zetsu-Obito shouted as he too was forcefully reintroduced with the face of the earth over and over, though soon he came to a complete halt not very far from where he started unlike with Madara who visited the entire battlefield.

Kakashi appeared from the wormhole produced by Kamui while Minato appeared not far from him wielding the Yin-Chakra of Kurama as if he were born with the energy.

"Yondaime, you might want to seal away that Biju of yours back into your son before he dies, Madara here was able to rip the Kyuubi from him and almost killed Sasuke not even a moment later." Harry called back after stopping his chanting while Madara began to scream as if he were being atomized.

Minato and Kakashi did not waste any time, nor did Sakura or Gaara as they were all whisked away by Kamui to Kakashi and Obito's pocket dimension to start the sealing. Naruto did not open his eyes, but the way his fist rose into the air before he was warped away was all Harry needed to see as he got the message quickly. 'Hit him hard for me.'

Harry approached the kneeling form of Madara who had begun to convulse and twitch while blood continued to pour out of his many wounds onto the harsh stone ground beneath him. "You know, you do not have to fight it. I can show you worlds far beyond this one where no one will know who you are, where you don't have to pretend to be this monster, Madara."

The black haired man with the face growing out of his left side did not say a word, he only continued to groan. Harry briefly teleported himself to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, or as he had come to learn from using active mind reading abilities derived from his new physiology from the Alteran DNA, the combined body of Kaguya with the remains of the first Shinju.

After a single tug the Biju were all ripped from the Gedo Mazo, each of the nine beasts disoriented by the quickness at which they were released, especially Kurama.

"What are you?" Kurama bellowed down at the black haired human with green Rinne-Sharingan eyes, having felt the beings absolutely massive Chakra but was unable to identify to man.

"My name is Harry Potter, it is nice to meet you Kyuubi-san!" Harry shouted back up to the Biju while he teleported back to his previous position and grabbed Madara harshly by the shoulder. "Pardon me while I take care of this man, there might be some good left in him, after all."

With that, Madara was teleported away into a dimension controlled by Harry where the wizard could safely remove information from the man's mind and maybe even convince him to work with him back on Earth, though he was not going to hold his breath.

"What are you planning to do with him?" Kurama and Gyuki questioned at once, knowing that the man held no place in their world. Kurama wanted to see the man torn to shreds a thousand times while the rest of the Biju just wanted to see an end to the fighting between the Sage's son's.

Harry shrugged his shoulders while summoning his seven ringed Shakujo and Zetsu-Obito along with it. The black-and-white humanoid figure landed roughly at his feet before Harry reached his free hand out and gripped the black leathery flesh of Zetsu.

"For your hand at manipulating the Senju and Uchiha for a thousand years or so, you are sentenced to death. Any last words, Zetsu?" Harry questioned after scanning the mind of the black mass of organic matter, causing the plant-like being to let out a chirping sound in fright.

"I didn't think so." Harry stated with a cold tone before ripping the will of Kaguya from Obito's body and absorbing the creatures chakra using the Preta path. Manipulating the vacuum energy derived from zero point energy that the wizards all called 'Magic', Harry broke the organic body of the black mass down into its base materials to use later.

Harry sighed before turning his attention back to Orochimaru, Orochimaru, Kabuto?, Suigetsu, Karin, Juugo and Sasuke. "If I did not take care of the man right then, he would have entered the Sage of Six Path's mode and later would have been betrayed by Zetsu to release a being almost on par with myself, the Sages own mother, so I am glad I got here when I did." Harry admitted after a few moments of being stared at like he was a freak.

"Annnnnd, before I forget." Harry murmured under his breath before flinging a syringe directly into Obito's chest before using wandless magic to push the plunger down, injecting the man directly with the synthetic phoenix tears created by Orochimaru and Bellatrix with the help of Sirius and Severus.

Another wave of his hand banished the syringe into the void where it became energized particles instead of solid matter. "You have much to do here, Obito, you do not get to die that easily."

**-FOSTA-**

Naruto awoke with a groan, feeling the whispy Yin Chakra associated with the dark half of his Biju permeating his coils and keeping him alive. "Where am I?" He questioned aloud while looking around at the black and grey environment around him.

"You are in Obito's and my pocket dimension, Naruto. Madara ripped your half of Kurama out of you, but Minato-sensei was able to transplant his half of the Kyuubi into you to save your life." Kakashi was the first to answer while Sakura, Gaara and Minato stared down at the boy with worry in their eyes.

"We have to get back, right now." Gaara said after a few moments of Sakura healing Naruto up while the four began to rapidly plan on how to confront Madara if this mysterious stranger 'Harry' was not able to take care of him, which seemed highly unlikely that he would be able to.

None of those present had any idea where the man came from, but they were not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth and used the momentary distraction to heal and plan.

Two minutes later saw the four redeposited on the battlefield, ready for whatever faced them. Instead of coming across a cataclysmic battle, they came across a fully healed and de-scarred Obito idly conversing with the de-rodded Nidaime, the Sandaime and Tsunade while the other leaders of the Go-Kage stood near by on alert.

Most of the Shinobi present were celebrating while dancing amongst one another, glad that the fighting had come to an end and both Uchiha dealt with. The nine Biju stood near by talking to one another in hushed tones and despite their sizes, their voices did not carry down to human ears.

Harry and Orochimaru were talking to one another softly while the curly haired Bellatrix stood there with a grin on her face, even if she did not get the chance to torture anyone under the Crucio curse like she wanted... yet.

"Bellatrix, what were you even doing this whole time?" Orochimaru questioned her while waving Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Gaara and Minato over to where Sasuke and Team Taka were standing. The Black laughed under her breath and waved her hand towards the Go-Kage, causing them to flinch back at the action and look away nervously. "Please tell me you weren't screwing with the Kage's heads."

"Then I wont tell you anything." Bellatrix quipped, causing Harry and Orochimaru to face palm before each pinched the bridge of their noses. "I apologize on my underlings behavior, Go-Kage, we come in peace I swear."

**-FOSTA-**

Harry, Orochimaru and Bellatrix returned to Earth just a few hours after they left, though many days had passed in the Elemental Nations due to the time dilution between the two dimensions.

Harry was contacted by the Rikudou Sennin after dealing with Madara and healing Obito, where the Sage explained everything as he knew it, though he was surprised that his mother still survived hiding in the Gedo Mazo.

Of course, the teenaged ascendent being sealed the Gedo Mazo within himself and vowed to oversee the husk of the Juubi for all of time, thus preventing something like the fourth war from occurring ever again. Hagoromo was less than pleased to see how the complete stranger awoke powers just like himself and his brother from a serum instead of being born with it, but he also understood that Harry would not let anyone else use the same process as himself out of possessiveness.

All's well that ends well as far as Harry and the Sage were concerned. Using a large portion of the chakra he had stored away, Harry agreed to use Rinne Tensei to bring back all those that had lost their lives to the two Uchiha's and the manipulation of Zetsu and Kaguya.

Minato and Kushina were pleased to be reunited in life as they were in death, even more so now that they could watch as their son grew into a man they would always be proud of. Despite Sasuke's wishes, Itachi was resurrected by Harry using the faint echo of chakra left over from his Edo Tensei, though no other Uchiha was able allowed to be revived by the two brothers.

The Ino-Shika-Chou and the many others bereft of life were grateful to Harry and Orochimaru for their hands in coming back to life, but the boy heard none of it.

After dealing with the left over Shinju, the Gedo Mazo and Kaguya by making sure they were all absorbed by his own energies, Harry left a massive stone tablet to commemorate the deaths and lives of many of those throughout the years to the manipulations of Kaguya, including all of those who died during the great wars between every village known.

Hashirama had attempted to get out of it, but in the end the man was forced to be resurrected by Harry so he could continue the Senju clan through artificial insemination as to not disrupt the balance left behind by the lack of a Senju clan while the Uchiha brothers both were talking about the clan restoration act.

His final act was giving Shikamaru and the Nara clan complete blueprints created by Harry and Bellatrix for any and every Chakra-tech created by the two of them, including giving them close to a thousand of the Chakra-Cores used by Japan to power their entire nation using just three of the crystals.

Using a bit of ingenuity granted to him by the expansive knowledge of science and existing in a Higher Place, Harry was able to place a few safe-guards on each of the crystals that would prevent the chakra inside from being used as a weapon in any form, though Harry did leave a way for each of the five Kage and for General Mifune a way to get in direct contact with him, no matter where he was or what he was doing in the form of a hand mirror just in case.

Harry would have been dead a long time before had he not used the energy of Kaguya and the residual Biju chakra contained by Madara to power the Rinne Tensei that brought back most of the recently dead and some of the long time dead, and even with the help it took Harry converting a massive amount of Z.P.E. to Chakra to power the technique.

While he had practically infinite chakra and 'Mana' thanks to being Omni-Dimensional with unparalleled access to the energy, his physical form was not capable of handling more than a small fraction of his power at a time or he risked ripping apart dimensions just by his presence alone.

Thus, Harry sealed seven of his eight gates shut tight to make sure that his energy would not leak out and erase existence as he knew it, even if he could recreate it given enough time.

"So, take Madara here and get him healed up and connected to the Blood-Clone network, let Uchiha Izuna know that he is to give over leadership and get our newest Uchiha the ropes." Harry stated while releasing the man from his pocket dimension, leaving the body of a teenaged Madara laying on the medical table without the face of Hashirama growing out of his side.

"Using a bit of bio-manipulation, I was able to remove the Senju cells from Madara's body and revert his age and power to that when he was seventeen. His chakra tastes terrible, might I add, so I removed the taint of the so called 'Curse of Hatred'." Harry finished his explanation by spitting out a writhing black mass of chakra from his mouth, only for the energy to be contained within a crystal and quickly warped away into his recently acquired pocket dimensions after absorbing the memories of Kaguya.

While negligible, Harry did not want to start abusing his abilities this early on before securing his position amongst the beings in higher realms and familiarizing himself with many of his budding abilities stolen from the Shinju, Kaguya, Madara and Zetsu thanks to the nature of his Soul Drain technique.

Madara was awoken with smelling salts by Orochimaru while Bellatrix was summoning a few of the Uchiha to take their new leader to his predecessor for his history lesson on Earth and being caught up to date on the plans Harry had been working on independent of Tom.

Speaking of Tom, Harry summoned each and every Horcrux the man had ever created, having collected them over the time he spent after creating the Asylum and rigging his game at the Derby.

With relish in his tone, Harry began to speak to each of the fragments in parseltongue. "_I am going to eat each and every little sliver of you lot, and I am going to sample each of you with a different __Palette__ while telling you how it taste while I do so. Go ahead and let Tommy Boy know just what I am going to do to him soon enough, it will make his decaying soul taste all the more sweet."_

Primal fear lanced through each fragment of Voldemort, though they were too disassociated from bodies as to speak on a mental level or physical level. Instead, they were messes of memories and soul energy, something Harry had come to appreciate due to the fact that it saved him from being torn to shreds during his premature ascendance.

Harry had no intention on eating the souls, but the way the masses of black and white energy twitched when they heard Harry's words was enough to cause the Omni-Dimensional being to cackle.

With a bit of effort, Harry completely wiped each of the masses of soul clean of memory of knowledge, making them a lump of raw soul energy that Harry then consumed for later use. As he currently existed, Harry had no need for the energy any longer, but his Banbutsu Sozo would be all that much better if the beings he breathed life into actually had souls to begin with instead of forcing them to develop like Hagoromo did with the Biju.

Being the closest thing to a God was not enough reason for Harry to abuse his powers to make everything too easy, as his existence would then become boring and pointless, something he was sure every immortal being began to fear after long.

"That takes care of that, now I just have to repeat the process two more times for Albus and Grindlewald, then remove the souls of all three Dark Lords around the same time to make sure there are no more problems in the future." Harry murmured to himself while summoning his genetically modified Runespoor. Another burst of energy made the snake begin to blink its eyes before revealing the snake now bore the Rinne Sharingan in the same shade of ghostly green that Harry bore.

"_There, my little friend, now you can see the world as I do._" Harry hissed to the snake named Indra, who hissed his thanks before reporting on how the other snake and dragon based creatures were doing. Many of the beings had sentience enough to recognize Harry as the supreme leader of any reptile in the forest, including the many long thought extinct Irish Lignum Dragons that now called the wooded forest home.

Harry broke himself from his reverie and began to convert much of the Z.P.E. constantly pouring into his body from the Godhead dimension most of his energy resided in directly into his strangely natured chakra.

Being able to instinctively use any nature release possible was boring as it made learning techniques a moot point, but Harry could hardly complain when he planned to abuse the many different aligned chakra's to further along his Chakra Tech recently being released to the public, especially so in Japan.

While the ascended beings did not wish to give humanity unlimited access to the technology left behind by themselves throughout the years, Harry had a different idea. He was going to claim the sunken city and all Ancient technology as it was rightfully his, while helping Humanity along to speed things along.

The beings known as the Goa'uld and the Wraith feared so much by Oma, one of the beings Harry has conversed with as an astral being while simultaneously dealing with Madara, had to be dealt with if Harry was to ever have a functioning, massive Empire to rule over. Multitasking was always one of Harry's strong suits.

"Bellatrix, wake me in a few hours when it is time for the raid, I am going to take a 'nap'." Harry broadcasted through his mental link with Bellatrix, knowing that she would hear him as if he were standing right next to her.

**-FOSTA-**


	14. The Crimson Dawn rises

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 14, The Crimson Dawn rises

I do not own anything pertaining to anything written in this story such as Harry Potter, Dark Souls, Naruto, or any other series that I might use as inspiration.

As far as this story goes, Dark Souls 2 did not happen.

I hope you all are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it!

**-FOSTA-**

The clock struck the eleventh hour and Harry was growing impatient. Instead of just sitting around for another hour, Harry decided to tweak the game a bit from behind the scenes to make sure that everything worked out as planned for Orochimaru and his task force dedicated to taking down Dumbledore and his lover.

The scene that greeted Harry was not what he was expecting. Instead of being an enormously large soul stuffed into a body like Harry had assumed, a partially ascended being millennia old had been manipulating the man and smothering his consciousness with a portion of its magic for close to thirty years now.

Seeing as the being was only partially ascended, Harry was able to completely overwhelm the being and learn all that it knew from its extremely long existence. It was enough to make Harry sick.

When his Ancient ancestors fled the Earth from the plague created by the Ori, they left many of their infected behind. Before leaving the galaxy, the Lanteans activated a machine that would destroy the plague and those carrying it and using the energy left over by the biological matter, they restarted the process for life to begin again, thus began the second seeding of the milky way galaxy.

This being and two other partially ascended beings were the same 'Soul's' found by Gwyn, Nito and the Furtive Pigmy, the First Human. The abilities granted to Gwyn, Nito and the Pigmy came at a tremendous price. They were no longer in control of their bodies, instead the out of phase beings reigned supreme over their new fleshy vessels.

Gwyn was able to regain control long enough to create the Kiln of the First Flame and cast himself into the fire to preserve the Age of Gods created by the Ascended Beings, fearing what the Dragons would do to his family and his subjects. It was this act of Benevolence on the true Gwyn's part that almost purified the Being completely, until the First Chosen Undead came and conquered the maddened husk of a God, taking the chaotic being into his own and casting himself back into the flame.

This process continued for hundreds of thousands of years until Mrrydin returned from Atlantis to Earth after fleeing the Wraith with the many last Lanteans. Seeing the state of the Earth and just how many times the world had been wiped clean time and time again by the partially Ascended beings, he created a pocket dimension within the Kiln of the First Flame and sealed away the mighty out of phase beings to keep them from repeating the process.

It was the year 1957 when Dumbledore stumbled across the Kiln and breached the pocket dimension to gauge the situation when the Ascended Beings sealed within took control of Dumbledore and through Albus, Grindlewald and later Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr., when the man returned to Hogwarts to seek the position of Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Due to the nature of the possession, Harry was unable to sense the beings until he just ran across them between the physical plane and the first astral plane where the ascended resided. The soul that possessed Tom had latched onto Harry that fateful night twelve years ago, only to be later absorbed by the boy when the Kamui from Kakashi and Sasuke opened up right on top of his sleeping body.

The being that possessed Nito now possessed Grindlewald while the crazed being that stole the Lord of Sunlight's body for himself now possessed Dumbledore who was innocent of everything Harry hated him for all along.

Harry had to stop and access the situation again before he took action. Dipping into his Godhead state for the first time since gaining almost absolute power, Harry was able to sever the connection between Grindlewald and Nito as well as Dumbledore and Gwyn.

The bodies of Albus and Gellert flopped to the ground in a heap while Harry used parts of the souls absorbed from demons and wiped clean the damage done by the partially ascended beings.

Turning to the two beings now standing in the same plane as Harry stood at while his physical body 'rested', Harry started the process of completely assimilating the beings into himself so he could wipe them clean like he had done to many other souls.

It took more time than Harry was used to, but in the end it was worth it as Harry placed all of the memories of the possessed Dumbledore and Grindlewald into blood-clones while also using a bit of ZPE manipulation to change the magical signatures to match the real Dumbledore and Grindlewald.

While not the originals, the wizarding world would get revenge for all of the manipulation while Orochimaru would still gain a bit of notoriety. Harry would get two more advisers, one light and one dark, on how he should proceed with introducing the wizarding world into the technical age of Chakra, ZPE and science.

**-FOSTA-**

Returning to Asylum One after marking Dumbledore and Grindlewald each with a contract cursed seal that would bind the two directly to the will of Harry, the Highest Being awoke his physical body and got ready to oversee the raid against Tom with Bellatrix, Sirius, Severus and Lucius, all of whom wanted to cut ties with their former master and continue to work under Harry.

This notion was appreciated by the technically ageless God who had taken the form of what he would have looked like as an adult while he was not attending Hogwarts. Assimilating thousands of years worth of knowledge from his ancestors on both sides of his energy, Chakra and Zero Point, made Harry realize the uselessness of continued existence as a twelve year old boy when he was so much more than that now.

The many pronged horns still rested on the crown of his head, completely refusing to be manipulated no matter what manner he tried. In the end, the black haired being gave up trying to alter the horns and settled on just manipulating everything else to suit his taste.

Standing at six foot four, Harry was a rather imposing figure with tightly contracted muscles that were easily tougher than diamonds, thus requiring too much force to pierce by any conventional method known to Harry besides a doomsday weapon or being flung into a star while being completely unaware.

Long black haired was pulled back into a high ponytail with two tied off strands covering up his sideburns much like Indra and Asura Otsutsuki wore. While a bit exotic by Wizard standards, his hairstyle wasn't so outlandish as to stand out, he had his horns for that.

A set of white robes fit for an Emperor adorned Harry's chest, decorated by golden and green sealing script that ensured that the robe would be impervious to each and every type of damage it could incur. Beneath the robes Harry wore a simple mesh shirt woven by mythril wire crafted by Harry after gaining the ability to create anything he wanted. While it served no purpose for Harry, the mythril mesh would isolate magical signatures which prevented being tracked by Mage Sight or those who could sense ZPE as well as provide protection from magical and physical attacks that no other material could replicate.

Black ANBU styled trousers rested on the physical avatar of Harry's hips with the ankles tied down and secured by white medical. His feet were covered by the standard black Shinobi sandles, though they were made from a much higher quality material than the Elemental Nation's counter parts to make sure they would hold up to the wear and tear Harry was sure to put them through.

Over all, the deer horned avatar of the Ascended Harry Potter looked regal but at the same time deadly.

Summoning his Shakujo from his pocket dimension holding back Kaguya, the Nova Shinju and the Gedo Mazo, Harry got ready to teleport his entire task force directly to Albania where Voldemort continued to gather his allies.

Lucius Malfoy and Asmodeus Greengrass stood near-by the Apparition point with Draco and Daphne standing near by, each having not seen Harry since the week previous at the gathering. To say the two were shocked to see the changes in their friend was an understatement.

"Why the hell do you have deer horns, Harry?" Draco questioned with a confused tone, as if he were trying to solve a calculus problem while only knowing addition and subtraction. Daphne did not state it out loud, but the blush on her face was enough for Harry to know just what she thought of his physical changes.

"It is apparently a symbol of Godhood, Draco." Harry answered evenly, still not knowing why he had horns sprouting from his skull nor could he do anything about them.

"Godhood? Don't be preposterous, Harry." Draco sniffed while raising his nose a bit in the air in a way that only a Malfoy could, sneering at the thought. "You may be the most powerful person I know, but that does not entitle you to claim God-ship."

Harry shrugged his shoulders before activating his Rinne-Sharingan eyes, freaking out all those present in the process. Using the 'Infinite Tsukuyomi' technique provided by the Tsuki no Me, Harry trapped Draco in an illusion that lasted all of five seconds on the outside while close to one hundred years passed in his head. Instead of mind raping the boy, Harry decided to 'Data Dump' an entire library's worth of information ranging from ZPE manipulation in the form of spells and rituals, Taijutsu techniques, Kenjutsu styles and infiltration techniques.

To make sure that Draco did not die from information overload, Harry tweaked his friends physiology to make the boy go through partial evolution, increasing his synapses rate by close to fifty fold while also allowing the boy to utilize seventy percent of his brain at once instead of just ten percent at any given time. Deciding to hold off on any other tweaking until he retook Atlantis for his own and for his people, Harry stopped messing with his friends DNA and allowed the illusion to end.

Draco collapsed as soon as the genjutsu ended only to be hoisted to his feet by Harry, who still had a blank look on his face. "Doubt me now, Draco?"

The young Malfoy heir shook his head in the negative for all of five seconds before snapping out of his stupor. "Thank you for that, Harry, really."

The Pater Familias of the Malfoy's looked like he wanted to protest at the treatment of his son by his Lord, but hearing his son thank Harry for whatever he was just forced through stopped the man from saying anything. While he doubted there would be anything he could do to stop Harry, he knew the black haired being would not harm his friends for any reason unless betrayed, something none of those currently following Harry had any intentions of doing in any way.

The Malfoy's had grown in wealth tremendously while Narcissa was more happy than the woman had ever been before around Lucius while Draco was acting more and more like a gentleman instead of a pompous brat, let alone at how skilled Draco had become at magic, swordplay and politics.

For all of those reasons, Lucius was loyal to Harry and Harry alone, Dark Mark and compulsion charms be damned. Voldemort thought he could force loyalty through the Dark Mark, but he did not take into account the fact that Harry had just as much knowledge on the creation and removal of the mark, if not more because of his skill at Fuinjutsu. Because of the plans to betray Harry, the Godly being removed each and every Dark Mark from those who followed him as to not lose them to Voldemort.

Instead of a Dark Mark, each member of Akatsuki and those under Harry's protection now bore a modified Cursed Seal that would draw in ambient Natural Energy and use the said Energy to give the bearer a number of different enhancements and abilities. Using the seal with ZPE was as simple as thinking of which function the user would want, ranging from Communication to any who bear the seal, access to a pocket dimension personalized to the bearer and the ability to draw chakra from the seal and convert it to ZPE which would then empower the bearer to three times what they are normally capable of.

"It is no problem, Draco, you know I look after my friends." Harry said with a smile before turning to Lucius and Asmodeus. "Are both of you prepared for this? I am going to go ahead and summon the rest of the Task Force so we can take care of this problem once and for all."

Lucius nodded his head quickly and smiled at the leader of the Akatsuki. "Narcissa will watch over Draco and Daphne while we deal with our former Lord, My Liege." Asmodeus simply nodded his head and stood as still as a statue while the three waited for the rest of the converted Death Eaters and many of the Uchiha to appear at the Apparition point.

Izuna, Bellatrix, Sirius and Severus showed themselves after two minutes while Regulus and his specially trained group of mages appeared not long after that. The Uchiha clones nodded their heads towards their previous leader before turning their attention to Harry, who stared down at the congregated people below him with pride in his Rinne-Sharingan eyes.

"Today we gather together to deal with the final threat there is to us all on this planet. You are the best of the best this world has to offer, I have made sure of that," Harry began, turning to look over each man and woman gathered, "Despite my benevolence and many gifts, Voldemort has betrayed me and plans on destroying all we have worked to accomplish. Are we going to sit idle and wait to be wiped out by his pathetic force of creatures and weaklings, or shall we show him what true darkness is capable of?"

Roars of 'Wipe him off the face of the Earth!' and 'Hang them by their entrails!' echoed throughout the crowd, though Harry was certain that the last call was issued by Bellatrix and thus ignored the blood thirsty woman. The energy of those gathered began to heighten and with a thought, Harry began to increase the amount of Chakra and ZPE contained by each of his followers to give him a larger edge over the opposing forces.

Harry may be a God, but he was not about to do all the work for everyone even if it would be easy for him to do so. What was the point of having followers if they didn't do anything for themselves as well as for Harry?

"Let's move out!" Harry shouted above the chanting forces before connecting his ZPE and Chakra to each of his followers and using that connection, teleported the entire lot directly to Albania. With a thunderous crashing of air displacement, Harry and his fifty strong battalion of Shinobi and War Mages appeared five miles outside of Voldemort's Stronghold.

Izuna, you are to take the Uchiha and begin the initial assault on the building using as many fire and lightning techniques as you can. Bellatrix, you are to lead the rest of those here in the second assault going for any of those within the Inner Circle that refuse to kneel before me. I will be dealing with Voldemort in the mean time." Harry stated with authority before withdrawing a map from the inside of the wide sleeves of his robes.

"This is an aerial map of the stronghold, the sleeping quarters and living area for each of the known members are marked clearly. Split your team up and use as many chakra based techniques as you feel necessary, we are going for a Shock and Awe approach for the first part of the battle while we go for trickery and guerrilla attacks for the second phase."

"Take a page out of Orochimaru's books and lead an attack from below after taking out the gates and as many of the forces on the outside as you can, Izuna. They have Giants, Werewolves, Golems and many other forms of creatures larger than humans, many of which are difficult to put down my conventional means. Fight like a Shinobi out there, weaken your opponent before finishing them off. Do not play with your opponents out there, I'd hate to have to resurrect any of you for your stupidity."

Everyone seemed to understand their assignments easily enough. The Uchiha moved out immediately, taking to the tree tops surrounding the large clearing created by Harry's appearance with fifty people with him, the displacement of air enough to topple many of the ancient and frozen tree's within the forest they found themselves in.

The wizards and witches present mounted the brooms provided to them by Harry and studied the map provided to them by Bellatrix after the copied the original given to her by the Ascended Being. After waiting until they saw the signal from the Uchiha that the raid had begun, the many witches and wizards under Harry's command made their way to the battlefield.

While being the same tactics to be used against the Dumbledore and Grindlewald puppets, these Witches, Wizards, Kunoichi and Shinobi were far more skilled than the Auror forces of the English Ministry. As such, if a weaker force can conquer the stronger force using his tactics, the stronger force should be unstoppable doing the same.

**-FOSTA-**

"Hello Tom." Harry greeted while appearing directly behind the man who sat reclined in his throne while watching the battle unfold with a disinterested gaze. Voldemort did not turn to greet Harry, instead he started speaking while staring off into space.

"You knew all along, didn't you?" Voldemort questioned with a strange tone of voice, one Harry would have missed if he weren't enhanced the way he was.

"Of course I did, Tom, I would not be here otherwise." Harry stated firmly while using ZPE to lift the man telekinetically out of the throne he was resting in, forcing the Dark Lord to face his would-be killer. "I knew before even you knew, I think. It was not hard to guess that you would do this in the end, you never did like sharing your toys."

Voldemort snarled and attempted to use the mythril armlet to overpower Harry, who simply dodged whatever spell Voldemort flung at him. Releasing Tom from his telekinetic hold, Harry allowed the man to fight back with all of his might. Every spell Voldemort would cast, whether it be the killing curse or many different exotic spells from all around the world, whether it were a skin melting, gut eviscerating dark spell or no, not a single one touched Harry. Instead of firing spells back, Harry simply slapped each one cast by Voldemort back to the man, who after one disgusting slashing spell being repelled into his leg had begun to increase his fervor.

The Ascended God who existed in the Highest Place let the man continue his rampage, making sure to direct a few of the spells into followers of Voldemort when he knew they wouldn't hit Voldemort, thus making it only slightly easier for his forces instead of doing it all for them directly.

Harry finally grew tired of back handing spells out of his face and flung one hand towards Voldemort, causing the man to be launched back with incredible force and fly through the broken wall leading to the court yard of the fortress.

Voldemort used his personalized flight spell to land gently on the ground, though he was bleeding heavily from the wounds on his legs and chest. Blood dripped from the mans ears and nose thanks to a sickly orange spell Harry had rebounded back at the man.

His once gloriously crafted robes gifted to him by Orochimaru were in ruins, having been destroyed by the concentrated spell fire after intercepting quite a few, resulting in Voldemort only being slightly damaged instead of being long dead.

"Why has it come to this, Harry?" Voldemort gasped while flinging a bright red spell, an overpowered Reductor Harry deduced, right towards the Horned God's face.

"Maybe because you are a traitorous bastard who was manipulated into becoming a mad man instead of a dark politician." Harry retorted hotly while throwing his Shakujo directly at Voldemort with as much power behind his throw as Gai wields after releasing the eight gates.

The resulting speed behind the rods caused Voldemort to be detached from his legs from the knee's down. A roar of pain echoed through the battlefield as the Onmyoton construct completely disintegrated any flesh and muscle it came into contact with as if it never existed.

Voldemort was wrenched into the air by another telekinetic hand wielded by Harry, causing the man to try and wrestle out of the poor mimicry of a Force technique. Another telekinetic hand reached out and wrenched the mythril armlet from Voldemort, tearing through the flesh and muscle of Tom's arm is it did so.

Harry sighed and began to toss the armlet up and down in his palm as if it were a baseball. "I was okay with sharing an Empire, Tom, I really was, but when you plot to kill me and then smile to my face like I was none the wiser is an insult I cannot let slide."

With another wave of his hand, Voldemort was detached from both arms, one at a time, until the man was just a floating torso with a head attached. With another wave of his hand, Harry healed the wounds and regrew both sets of limbs, only to repeat the process over and over again.

"How does it feel, Tom? Are you enjoying this? This is what you planned to do to me, after all, isn't it?"

The man had yet to begin screaming, so Harry continued the gruesome act while placing a Crucio spell on the man in the meanwhile, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the man began to scream. True enough, not even three minutes into the process and Voldemort was blubbering like a baby, unable to cut off the flow of pain or blood that followed his limbs being removed.

By the time Harry was growing bored with the act of mutilation, there was a large pile of arms and legs at his side and more than enough blood for an elephant to bathe in.

"Well that was a bit boring." Harry admitted, not enjoying the torture near as much as he would have before he ascended. "I used to enjoy this just like you did, Tommy boy, but I guess I am a changed man after removing the taint left behind by you and Orochimaru, who is just crazy as much as I admire the man."

Using ZPE manipulation, Harry sealed away Voldemort's magic from being accessed instead of stripping it away completely and altered the blood in his veins to match the original body of Tom Riddle as well as his magical signature, thus ensuring that by dropping him off Nurmengard Harry wouldn't be considered an accomplice to the man. One overly powerful Obliviate later and Harry erased the memories pertaining to anything related to Asylum One, Harry Potter, or any of those within Voldemort's forces that decided to serve the Ascended Being known as Harry.

Once he was sure that all of his work would permanently remain, Harry sealed Voldemort away within his pocket dimension to be delivered into Nurmengard where the clones of Dumbledore and Grindlewald waited for Orochimaru. Capturing three 'Dark Lords' at once would make sure that Orochimaru was as famous as the Boy Who Lived, if not more so.

"This was too easy." Harry murmured to himself while checking on his his forces currently rounding up the remainder of Voldemort's failed army. Many of those present in Albania died during the first attack unleashed by the Uchiha, reducing the massive numbers to something more manageable for the Warlocks and Witches that descended from the skies only a few moments after the onslaught began.

The corpses of Vampires, Werewolves, Giants, cloaks of Dementors, leathery carcases of Lethifolds and a few more of the unspeakable creatures littered the once ominous courtyard hidden behind the steep walls and wards created by Voldemort, turning the earth around into a black mud as the blood mixed with the earth. Blackened marks scorched the crimson earth, either from the lightning or fire being flung.

Lucius and Bellatrix reported that no casualties on Harry's side was suffered, though there were a few injured but none in critical condition. A grin stretched across Harry's face when he looked at the many irredeemable Death Eaters captured by his elite fighting force. "You lot are going to enjoy your second stay in Azkaban, I will make sure of it you miserable lot of ingrates."

Another round of tampering with the memories of all of the captured forces later and Harry contacted Orochimaru, letting him know that outside of the wards there will be minimal forces there to stop him from acquiring all three dark lords in one go while also making sure the man planted evidence to make it look like Dumbledore was in control of Voldemort all along.

After fifteen minutes and one hell of a fanfare, the War of the Dark Lord's was over before it ever truly began.

**-FOSTA-**

The raid on Nurmengard was a complete success, just like the raid in Albania. Due to the planted evidence, Voldemort and the two clones would be sentenced to death and each were kissed by dementors the very next morning.

Orochimaru was awarded with the Order of Merlin, First Class by Minister Fudge in front of a large crowd in Diagon Alley to commemorate the occasion. Reporters for the Daily Prophet and a few foreign press members were present despite the current ban on international travel placed by both Muggle and Magical governments.

Despite the restrictions, Harry pulled some strings behind the scenes and allowed the American, Canadian, German and Egyptian versions of the Daily Prophets to have temporary travel visa's instated as to spread the word that much quicker. Word soon got around that the three Dark Lord's were pulling the strings of different countries behind the scenes and the blame for the assassination of the Russian and American leaders fell directly on Dumbledore.

The magical world was relieved that the culprit had been found, resulting in Orochimaru gaining world wide recognition as 'The Man Who Conquered', leaving Harry to mostly fade away into the background as he made sure that his manipulations were undiscovered.

America and Russia lifted the Martial Law status on both countries two days later and with that, so did every other country not involved but allied with either country. The English Wizardry World would pay the United States and Russia, under the table of course, back the money to pay for the entire conflict that just occurred in the pacific. Using the funds confiscated from Dumbledore and Grindlewald as well as the massive stash of gold and ancient coins conveniently found by Orochimaru, the English Ministry was able to provide each and every dime necessary to buy pardon from America and Russia.

The plot by Quayle was never discovered thanks to Harry erasing all evidence, ensuring that Harry had the United States as a close ally for the Akatsuki. Thanks to his financial backing, Quayle was going to run for president for a second term, something Harry encouraged greatly. While it was two years away, Harry had Orochimaru and Bellatrix communicate with agents from the CIA and FBI with the blessing of the President.

What Quayle did not know was that Harry now controlled the two intelligence agencies with a modified version of the same spell the possessor of Gwen and Dumbledore used to enthrall people, though Harry tweaked it to never cause damage to those under his control. Neither men were good people in the least, using extortion and drug trafficking to fund many of the black book operations of the world super power, so Harry felt no regret for enslaving the Directors to his will.

Harry had the director of the FBI hire on Madara and Asmodeus after making sure both could blend into the muggle world, thus spreading the Akatsuki even further around the globe to set up not only an information network, but to make connections to use later.

Three days after the travel ban was lifted from the world by various countries, Harry arrived at Kings Cross Station to return to Hogwarts to finish his first and final year at Hogwarts, having decided to sit his NEWTS and then go on a journey to retrieve the legacy left to him by his Ancestors.

All was well for the omnidimensional being, who now stood surrounded by those who loved him instead of those who wanted him dead. Hermione and Draco stood vigilantly at their best friends side as he pushed passed the crowds of sluggish and mulling students. A few students were taller than others and received a few pokes from Harry's horns while the God passed them by, causing confusion as to why the last Potter had deer horns on his head.

When Sirius saw the horns and learned that there was no way Harry could hide them, no matter what he tried, he laughed so hard that he wet himself. Even after wetting himself from laughter, Sirius didn't stop until close to dinner time that night.

Harry met the eyes of a few students who had something to say to him after he prodded them with his horns, causing him to raise a brow when a few of them turned away quickly. Turning to look back at Draco and Hermione, he found the two of them mouthing threats to those who stared at Harry, causing the Ascended being to smile at his friends.

It was good to have people who genuinely wanted to follow you to the ends of the universe instead of ruling by fear, Harry found out after changing the way he acted towards those who associated with Akatsuki or himself on a personal level.

Now all Harry had left to do at Hogwarts was steal the Philosophers Stone still hidden away in the castle due to the plotting of the partially ascended being that controlled Gwyn, and maybe even a childish fight with Longbottom if he could rile the boy up enough. Damn it felt good to be a God.


	15. Aeon

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 15, Aeon

The Finale!

I do not own anything pertaining to anything written in this story such as Harry Potter, Dark Souls, Naruto, or any other series that I might use as inspiration.

I hope you all are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it!

**-FOSTA-**

Staring down at the woman he needed to administer the final serum to repair the minds of all of the professors enthralled by Gwyn, Harry had to bite back a sigh. As much as he hated Trelawney, he could not just let the woman continue to wander about babbling about everyone around her dying gruesome deaths, only he could do that.

"Wha..." The disoriented woman moaned, stirring from her sleep once Harry pushed the plunger down on the syringe now inserted into the woman's arm. Harry had taken to using Kamui much like Obito did when dealing with disoriented professors, as Professor Sprout got the jump on the God with the meanest fire whip Harry had ever seen once the woman came to.

Thankfully, Trelawney was never much of an attacker, having been the closest thing to a hippy the magical world had to offer, at least near the English side of the world.

"You have been under mind control for quite some time, young lady." Harry answered, having taken the visage of a kindly old man with eccentric horns for this little process as to not be seen shooting up professors with odd colored liquids.

Trelawney seemed to twitch when she heard the word 'mind control', "Who was res-"

"A God, to put it in a way you would understand." Harry answered with a twinkle in his eye, having taken a page from Dumbledore's book. The good Dumbledore, that is, Harry had no intention of just being a raging volcano in his madness.

Trelawney seemed to scoff in a Malfoy-esque way, causing Harry to snort at the expression on the woman's face. "Do not look that way for long, child, it may stick."

The blond woman quickly wiped the expression from her face while turning her body as well as she could to survey the room, still only just sitting up in her bed. Feeling a bit of a breeze, Trelawney looked down and yelped before bringing a sheet up to cover her chest. "Are you some sort of pervert?"

"Of some sort, I think every one is." Harry shrugged, making sure to lot leer at the woman like he would have anyone else.

"Just- Just get out of my room."Trelawney screamed while tossing the glass vase on her bedside at the aged Harry, causing it to shatter directly on his face. Instead of yelling in pain, Harry continued to stare at the woman with a blank gaze, causing her to stutter out an apology despite not seeing a wound on the boy from the physical force smashing into his nose.

Harry nodded his head before waving his hand in the divination professors direction. Trelawney gasped as the memories of her enthralled self came roaring back into her skull, catching her up to date on the state of affairs since her enthrallment when she was first hired on as the Divination Professor. Another little spell settled in the woman's mind that prevented her from talking about seeing Harry in her room or the fact that he healed her, though the blond woman was unaware of that fact.

"Your death shall be most grim, Potter!" Trelawney yelled while raising a balled fist in his direction as the God floated through the walls as if they weren't there, much like a ghost would. "I've already died three times now, Trelawney, try to make the fourth creative if you can!"

**-FOSTA-**

"This is one stupid mirror." Harry muttered to himself as he stared at the Mirror of Erised, an artifact given to 'Dumbledore' by Nicholas Flamel to help safe guard the Philosophers Stone. So far, Harry had refused to use any of his godly abilities to remove the stone, instead relying on just the basic Sharingan mutated to see both chakra and zpe and his own abilities from before he Ascended.

It was not working well, not in the least.

Harry was tempted to just ram the mirror with his horns until it was glass dust, but he knew better than to take his anger out on pretty artifacts. Instead, the walls around Harry were pockmarked with Chidori Senbon that still pulsated angrily and one large gaping hole where Harry just shot lightning from his fingertips using elemental manipulation.

Senseless destruction always helped the boy concentrate better, or so he told himself. Every time he looked into the mirror, all he saw was himself winking and placing the stone in his pocket.

"Are you serious?" Harry questioned while reaching into the same pocket that he saw himself drop it in, feeling the weight of the stone that was not there moments ago. "No, really, this is bollocks." Harry stated while pulling out the crimson orb that caused so much grief for the 'Dark' throughout the years.

The Flamels were famous for their creation and their Six hundred and sixty six years of life, something Harry found ironic. While not a man on faith, Harry had a bit of a passion for world religions and their many different facets, ranging from those that worshiped angry gods to those that bowed to benevolent guides.

As a newly awakened God, Harry was sure that someone, somewhere, would want to worship him. The Highest Being did not simply want people bowing down to him, as he had grown to love that little aspect during his stint as Voldemort. Bellatrix and Sirius were the ones to suggest just making a parody of a religion based on the 'New Age' groups popping up around the world. Surely they could round up plenty of people to begin spreading the word of 'Otsutsuki Hajime, Supreme Commander of the Asuran Royal Fleet' that Earth was under his protection, but that would ruin Harry's Master Plan.

'That was the dumbest idea I have ever heard, and I've heard some pretty stupid shit. That was something Madara or Kaguya would make a religion about.' Harry thought to himself while analyzing the stone with his Sharingan, then his Mangekyou Sharingan, followed by his Rinnegan and finally the Rinne-Sharingan as to make sure that he did not miss any facet of the mythical gem.

The breaking down of the magic stored within the stone took Harry all of a few minutes to analyze as he wanted to be sure that everything he stored within his mind was the correct information.

Utilizing every element on the Alchemical table, Nicholas was able to create a gem that tapped into the primordial energy left over from when the three goddesses created this dimension and its many planes and universes, this same primordial force that resulted in Dragons made of stone being given sentient life before Gwyn wiped them out throughout the ages.

Of course it would be much more difficult than words can describe to create such a stone, as the primordial forces could potentially erase this universe and wipe it blank should it be misused, causing Harry to form the hypothesis that Nicholas had no idea what he was messing with and the philosophers stone was nothing more than a really fancy fluke.

A really fancy fluke that gave Harry the ability to give his most loyal followers eternal life if they so choose to continue serving him, or for him to now craft as many of the stones as he wanted to abuse his godly abilities. He was contemplating opening a random universe through the Amenominaka technique and just pouring thousands upon thousands of the stones down to the parallel Earth just to see what would happen.

Storing that mischievous thought for later, Harry placed the philosophers stone within his pocket dimension only accessible to himself using Kamui. The God within him rather enjoyed using his new found abilities to facilitate his laziness, but Harry knew that it would make his existence more dull than a blank dimension if he broke reality whenever he so pleased.

That said, Sharingan techniques were still viable. Self limitations be damned, Harry was proud of his many different eyes.

**-FOSTA-**

"So tell me again, Mr. Potter, just why do you have deer horns?" Filius questioned the boy sitting in front of his new desk, having taken up the position as Headmaster of Hogwarts when Minerva declined after being awoken to just how much she had been manipulated throughout her life at the hands of 'Dumbledore'.

"A partial Animagus transformation that is impossible to undo without destroying my brain." Harry lied through a smile, making sure that he stuck to the story being spread throughout Hogwarts like wild fire. Apparently, it was not common for First Year students to suddenly decide to become Animagi and get stuck only partially through the transformation. Who would have thought?

It was a poor lie and Harry knew it, but he did not care in the slightest. They would never know just why he had horns, and he had enough fame to ensure that the public wouldn't even care if he sprouted wings and started break-dancing on clouds. Such is the life of the man who killed a Dark Lord as a baby.

Filius fought back a grin at the answer while steeping his small fingers together in front of his face, "You know that is not true, as do I, but it is none of my business. Instead, I wish to inform you that you will be able to sit your NEWTS during the last week here at Hogwarts at the behest of the Board of Governors."

Harry smiled and thanked the small professor with enthusiasm before Harry, still transformed to look as if he were twelve, walked straight out of the mans office without another word, leaving the newly appointed Headmaster of Hogwarts with his mouth wide open.

**-FOSTA-**

If Harry had ever said he hated EVERY Weasley, he would have been lying. Giving the Weasley twins of Gryffindor access to his smoke bombs, improvised invisibility cloaks and a thousand yards of Shinobi grade wire made for some pretty hilarious moments between classes. Giving stink bombs and different potions that produced effects from turning students into toads into transforming the clothes they were wearing into perfect copies of Gai's 'Spandex of Youth' outfit to Peeve's the Poltergeist was just as fun.

Harry had become the King of Mischief during his first and final year at Hogwarts, a legend amongst the students as praise worthy as the Marauders due to the ingenuity he used in his many pranks.

So what if a few students learned spells that could make clothes transparent, it wasn't as if they could prove Harry was the one to create the spell. Who cares if Filch suddenly had a pocket full of various stolen goods just as he was about to be accused of said theft? It certainly wasn't Harry who pinned the crime on an... innocent man.

And really, who minds that the Black Lake now had a small water park feeding off of it for the Wizards, Witches and Merfolk to enjoy? Harry certainly enjoyed speeding down the slipping slide at very dangerous speeds, as did Trelawney when she suddenly found herself on said slide instead of her bath. Harry assumed the woman was screaming for joy and not for bloody murder, but he could never be too sure as Bellatrix often mixed and matched the two.

Could they prove that the dig site discovered on the edge of the Forest just crawling with different riddles and clues that would eventually lead to the discovery of the true origins of Witches and Wizards was left by Harry? No way, Jose.

Harry, Hermione and Draco could honestly say they enjoyed their first and final years at Hogwarts after Harry spontaneously decided to give the bushy haired Slytherin the same information as he did Draco via 'Infinite Tsukuyomi'. Neither of the three 'Royal's' would be returning to Hogwarts after each sat their NEWTS and passed each exam with perfect scores, something that had never happened nor would happen again.

**-FOSTA-**

Getting a false identity set up for himself was as easy as pie, as was bending the light around his horns as to make them appear invisible to the naked eye. Machines could not even tell Harry had bad ass horns by the time he was done weaving the powerful magic. Under the false name Otsutsuki Hajime, born in the Otsu, the Capital city of the Shiga Prefecture of Japan, Harry was able to falsify everything concerning 'his' life, ranging from manipulating the memories of certain set's of people to corroborate his story.

Born as the son of a now deceased scientist studying abroad, 'Hajime' attended Zoku High after testing in to the school and passing with flying colors in 1981. Graduating in 1985, 'Hajime' would then go on to study at Keio University in Tokyo until 1992 where he received his masters in every science, applied or theoretical, that he could acquire. As stated before, gold makes every process go quickly.

Establishing himself as the newly appointed C.E.O. of Donum Misericordiae, the same company created by Bellatrix and Orochimaru to cure the world of the many diseases that plagued man was as simple as having his two underlings make an announcement of his ascension to head of the massive inter-nation corporation. A side branch of the company was created to house the scientists currently working on Chakra based technology created by Harry, Orochimaru and Bellatrix, such as the Chakra Cores that now powered Japan and large portions of the United States.

Disposal of the nuclear material was as simple as breaking the containment seal and casting the exotic particles into the void where they could disperse in peace without causing various sicknesses. President Quayle was most enthusiastic about the free energy as it diverted millions and millions of dollars to projects such as the homeless and sick that still dotted the many streets of the large country, or the rather secretive headquarters located beneath the Cheyenne mountain military complex in Colorodo.

China was benefiting from the introduction of clean and super abundant energy by ridding itself of the smog producing industrial machines that had already punched a massive whole in the Ozone layer above Beijing. Jiang Zemin, for a communist, was a delightful man to meet for the most part.

"Chairman Zemin, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Dr. Otsutsuki Hajime, C.E.O. of Donum Misericordiae." Harry greeted the man after being ushered into a rather luxurious building currently housing most of the Communist Party of China. The propaganda littering the buildings and the information networks in China was a bit disconcerting for Harry, but the God knew that running a country as large as China with such strict ruling without getting revolted against was a massive accomplishment in itself alone.

"The pleasure is mine, Dr. Otsutsuki, I welcome you to China." Jiang responded with a smile, stretching his hand out to greet Harry. The God was quick to return the greeting with average strength, crushing the hand of a business associate was usually bad for business.

After being led further into the lavishly decorated room currently occupied by the Communist Leader, the two men came to a halt by a large mahogany desk styled much like the Chinese architecture around them.

"I will get right to the point of this meeting if you do not mind, Doctor." Jiang spoke after seating himself at the large desk with a small heave, showing that the man was not in as good of shape as he let on to be. "I have been poisoned and the many scientists I have under control cannot find a cure for it. I was hoping that with your help, I might survive to pick my own successor instead of allowing the corrupt elements in the Party to pick."

Harry seemed to ponder the information for a moment before nodding his head. "I can have one of my top Scientists brought here to concoct a cure immediately."

"Would they not need to study my blood or the poison before hand?" Jiang questioned after a few moments while shuffling through much of the paper work on his desk as if he had better things to be doing. It was a distraction to make sure Harry couldn't see how anxious the man was at hearing he was willing to hear out the business proposition initiated by Jiang once his lead scientist and doctors finished analyzing his blood.

"We can cure cancer, AIDS, and even restore full brain capacity to those born with down syndrome, curing a poison is child's play." 'Hajime' stated with certainty in his voice.

"You know, for a Japanese, you aren't so bad." Jiang finally stated, a small smile forming on his face.

"And for a Chinese, you aren't half bad either." Harry responded with a laugh, easily going along with the ruse that he was Japanese instead of English. With his memories pertaining to the Elemental Nations and those involved with the many conflicts in the bloody lands, Harry was more comfortable with being 'Japanese' than 'English', even if he was an alien in every definition of the word.

**-FOSTA-**

After having put it off long enough, Harry apparated to the hidden bunker left behind by his ancient ancestors deep beneath the surface of Antarctica. Setting up massive wards to cover five miles in any direction of the underground base that prevented any form of creature from stumbling across the base was as easy as a few waves of his hand.

"Here goes nothing." Harry murmured to himself and teleported directly into the room containing the Control Chair required to power the drone weapon defense system left to protect the Earth from an invading force.

The round chamber containing the Neural Interface needed to activate the defense system wasn't in the best shape it had ever been in, but Harry was able to make easy work of replacing the ZPM needed to power the device. Linking himself with the Neural Interface with the Asura Path was the first thing Harry did after checking the entire Sol System to make sure that there were no hidden surprises in the form of impending Alien Invasion.

absorbing the Neural Interface with his body was as simple as using the link between himself and the machine to directly download the 'software' of the chair directly to his mind, thus allowing him to constantly use the many different programs of the chair such as holographic projection, control of the many drones left behind by the Ancients and the ability to see any Naquadah or Naquadah based materials anywhere in the solar system.

The moment the download was complete, Harry deposited the now useless control chair and stasis chambers left in the outpost into his personal pocket dimension before readily taking note of each and every location bearing the metal within the solar system.

The first place Harry decided to check out was the build up of Naquadah was just fifty or so miles from his location. Teleporting there using the Amenominaka technique, Harry was shocked to not only find a Star Gate and DHD left behind by his ancestors, but also one of the Ancients themselves sealed beneath the surface of the ice in pseudo-stasis.

"What do we have here?" Harry questioned while staring down at the frozen body of the beautiful woman encased in ice. A quick scan with his massive stores of Chakra and ZPE indicated that the woman was infected from the plague was was well over one millions years old.

Harry had to pause to process this information before sealing her away in one of the stasis chambers in his personal dimension to make sure that she would not prematurely thaw, the God wanted to make sure that the woman actually something to return to instead of there only being one fully fledged Alterans on Earth.

Sure, DNA manipulation allowed Harry to turn every human he knew into full blooded Ancients, but the omnidimensional being was waiting until he reclaimed Atlantis before reintroducing the Alterans to the universe at large.

With a grin, Harry disappeared from Antarctica with his own personal Star Gate, DHD, defense outpost and a frozen Ancient.

**-FOSTA-**

This is the end of From one Snake to Another, but fear not! I will be working on the sequel which will span many different series, most of which have been hinted at and already guessed by you loyal readers!

Asleep at the Wheel of Discovery shall be coming to a fanfiction site near you soon!


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